Although a professional since 1991, Hicks first came to prominence in the 1995 World Championship, in which he reached the semi-finals, beating Steve Davis, Willie Thorne and Peter Ebdon along the way, but being blocked from the finals by Nigel Bond, 11–16.

Later, he was only one frame loss away from being bumped out of the Top 64, rallying to defeat Craig Butler 10–9 in a close 2003 World Championship qualifier.

At this point, he had only qualified for the world championship once in six years, a 10–4 defeat to eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2001.

In 2004–05, Hicks made it to the quarter-finals of the British Open with a first-round victory over Ken Doherty.

He has compiled over 100 competitive centuries during his career,[6] and has scored a maximum break at the UK Championship qualifiers in 2012.

[7] Hicks came through the third event of the 2019 Q School by winning six matches to earn a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour for the 2019/2020 and 2020–21 seasons.

[8] He currently lives in Launceston, Cornwall[1] and is the staff pro at Bell's Court Snooker Club in Falmouth.