The Twelfth Man 2014

! 23 of!telling!the!truth.! ! Howzat? !is!a!whodunnit?!–!but!with!a!ball!instead! of!a!body!M!so!it’s!probably!best!that!I!don’t!reveal! too!much!of!the!plot.!It!features!a!motley!crew!of! characters!M!including!an!antiquarian!book!dealer,! an!art!impresario!and!a!solar!energy!expert!with!a! penchant!for!the!poetry!of!a!Nobel!Prize!winner.! Throw!into!the!mix!the!world’s!finest!cricketer,!his! agent,!a!couple!of!county!archivists!–!one! refreshingly!frank!and!the!other!distinctly! disinclined!M!as!well!as!the!sporting!memorabilia! “specialists”!who!failed!to!spot!that!the!sold!ball! was!the!wrong!make!and!the!plot!not!only! thickens!but!starts!to!congeal.! !At!times,!frustration!led!me!to!consider! abandoning!Operation!Howzat?!but,!reM invigorated!by!the!honesty!of!a!handful!of!the! saga’s!key!players!–!notably!Sobers!and!the!Duke! ball’s!owner,!Jose!Miller!–!I!kept!plugging!away! and!began!to!unravel!the!riddle.!!! Both!my!tenacity!and! Howzat’s !depth!of!detail! have!been!remarked!upon!by!most!reviewers.!Fair! comment:!my!obsessive!and!meticulous!approach! –!described!by! Wisden !as!“one!man’s!relentless,! borderlineMpsychotic!quest!for!answers”!M!did! result!in!passages!where!the!going!got!tough!for! the!reader.!In!my!defence,!I!can!only!say!that!in! searching!for!the!truth,!I!felt!duty!bound!to!tell!the! whole!truth!–!or!as!much!of!it!as!was!legally! possible.!The!refusal!by!five!of!the!nine!people! involved!in!the!sale!to!discuss!their!roles!made!me! even!more!determined!to!be!open!about!my! investigation!–!and,!on!reflection,!perhaps!I!was! too!open. ! ! !Sadly,!a!pair!of!reviews!by!two!cricket!writers! completely!missed!the!point!of!my!writing! Howzat? !One!described!the!book’s!detail!as!its! weakness!before!stating!that!it!was!“also!a!kind!of! strength”!–!but!without!explaining!why.!He!then! referred!to!a!“recurring!futility”!in!my!efforts!to! single!out!a!culprit!–!a!theme!later!picked!up!by! the!other!reviewer.!He!declared!that!the!absence! of!what!he!called!a!“full!conclusion”!was!a! drawback!and!“the!overMriding!difficulty!is!that! Lloyd!set!himself!too!stiff!a!task.”!Come!again?! Neither!reviewer!appeared!to!understand!that!the! success!or!otherwise!of!the!book!doesn’t!depend! on!the!outcome!of!my!investigation.! Howzat? ! explains!the!tortuous!way!in!which!the!bizarre!tale! unfolded;!to!my!mind,!the!outcome!of!Operation! Howzat?!is!irrelevant!to!the!book’s!achievement.! That’s!life,!it’s!the!way!the!investigation!turned!out! –!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! as!opposed!to!the!way!I,!and!I!suspect!most! readers,!would!have!liked!it!to!end.!Despite!the! unsatisfactory!denouement,!I’m!delighted!to!have! exposed!the!lessMthanMdiligent!behaviour!of! certain!former!Christie’s!staff!and!one!or!two! other!people!into!the!bargain.! !Such!skewed!reviews,!which!strike!me!as!illogical,! proved!the!exception!rather!than!the!rule.!I!was! particularly!heartened!by!the!verdict!of!another! experienced!cricket!journalist!who!described! Howzat? !as!“a!triumph”!and!a!“skilfully!crafted!and! highly!absorbing!book”!before!concluding!that!“as! a!piece!of!investigative!reporting,!it!is!compelling! stuff.”!Reaction!from!the!game’s!enthusiasts!–!who! seem!to!love!the!minutiae!of!my!investigation!M! and!from!readers!in!general!has!also!been!very! gratifying.!One!woman!posted!this!short!but!sweet! review!on!Amazon!after!buying!the!book!as!a! present!for!her!husband:!“he!was!more!than! delighted!with!it!and!told!me!it!was!well!worth!the! five!stars.”!!! !Some!people!think!I!should!have!let!sleeping!dogs! lie!but!I!still!believe!the!Christie’s!sale!was!“just! not!cricket”.!Where!were!the!three!Ts!M!truth,! transparency!and!trust!–!which!underpin!the! whole!business!of!collecting?!A!year!on!from! Howzat’s !publication,!I!have!but!a!single!regret:!I! wish!I!hadn’t!let!my!personal!enthusiasm,!nay!zeal,! India&art&impresario&Neville&Tuli&bought&the&ball&for&a& world&record&£26,400&for&a&sporting&memorabilia& collection !