The Twelfth Man 2014

! 22 ! W hen!it!comes!to!putting!pen!to!paper!in!a! book,!George!Orwell!nailed!it!for!me.! “I!write!it!because!there!is!some!lie!! that!I!want!to!expose,!some!fact!to!! which!I!want!to!draw!attention!! and!my!initial!concern!is!to!! get!a!hearing.”!! That!single!sentence!from!Orwell’s!1946!essay,! “Why!I!Write”,!perfectly!explains!the!reason!I! wrote!and!then!published! Howzat?!The!Six!Sixes! Ball!Mystery! just!over!a!year!ago.!The!sequel!to! Six!of!the!Best:!Cricket’s!Most!Famous!Over! was!the! result!of!my!investigation!into!the!controversial! sale!of!a!Duke!ball!for!a!world!record!£26,400.!! !The!lie!was!that!the!ball!sold!by!Christie’s!in! London!in!2006!wasn’t!the!one!hit!by!Garry! Sobers!in!Swansea!in!1968!as!he!made!hay!and! history!while!the!sun!shone!at!St!Helen’s!during! the!Glamorgan!against!Nottinghamshire! championship!match.!! !! ! ! ! I!wanted!to!expose!that!incontrovertible! falsehood!by!drawing!attention!to!one! indisputable!fact:!the!ball!bowled!six!times!by! partMtime!spinner!Malcolm!Nash!was!made!by! Stuart!Surridge!and!not!by!Duke!&!Son.!I!believed! a!hearing!could!be!best!achieved!by!producing!a! book,!rather!than!just!an!article,!about!my!18M month!quest!for!the!truth.!! !Two!subsidiary!inaccurate!statements!served!to! fuel!my!passion!and!increase!my!incredulity.!The! Christie’s!lot!notes!maintained!that!three!balls! were!used!by!Nash!M!when!he!knew,!and!the!TV! footage!confirmed,!that!he!had!bowled!only!one!–! HOWZAT?' The umpire’s index finger is starting to twitch… A guest feature by ‘The Six Sixes Mystery’ author Grahame Lloyd while!also!asserting!that!Glamorgan!were!being! supplied!with!Duke!balls!“during!this!period.”!! !What!began!as!a!labour!of!love!soon!developed! into!an!obsession!–!and!I!make!no!apologies!for! becoming!fixated!on!the!subject.!It!all!stemmed! from!one!fundamental!question:!howzat?!M!or! rather!how!is!that! possible? !How!could!a!Duke! masquerading!as!a!Stuart!Surridge!have!been!sold! for!such!a!staggering!amount!without!anyone! apparently!noticing!–!or!caring?!The!ball! manufacturer’s!discrepancy!just!didn’t!make!sense! and!as!the!damning!evidence!mounted!up,!I!felt! there!was!no!alternative!but!to!launch!Operation! Howzat?!The!imposter!had!to!be!unmasked.!!! !! ! ! ! ! ! As!I!explained!in!the!book’s!introduction,!my!aim! was!twoMfold:!to!solve!the!mystery!surrounding! the!sold!ball!and!to!clear!Sobers’!name.!I!was!not! driven,!as!the!reviewer!for!a!prominent!cricket! website!stated,!“by!a!single!quest:!to!discover!the! whereabouts!of!the!ball”!which!had!been!hit!for! the!Six!Sixes.!I!had!no!interest!in!finding!the! original!Surridge,!presuming!it!had!been!left! inadvertently!in!a!cricket!bag!in!Trent!Bridge!or! lost!during!the!reMdevelopment!of!that!ground.!! !My!game!plan!was!equally!clear:!I!hoped!to!locate! the!disputed!Duke!and!return!it!to!Christie’s!in!an! attempt!to!right!a!most!blatant!wrong.!Little!did!I! know!that!the!investigation!into!the!ball’s!journey! from!Wales!via!England!to!India!would!take!over! my!life.!At!times,!it!resembled!an!obstacle!course;! as!soon!as!I!had!negotiated!one!hurdle,!another! one!appeared.!Some!of!those!involved!were!so! anxious!to!abrogate!responsibility!that!one!or!two! of!them!ran!for!cover!and!refused!to!speak!to!me;! others!were!downright!unhelpful!–!even! obstructive!M!and!one,!in!particular,!was!incapable! The&South&Kensington&saleroom&where&Christie’s&claimed& the&Duke&ball&was&the&last&of&three&bowled&to&Sobers ! The&Duke&masquerading&as&a& Stuart&Surridge !