The Twelfth Man 2014

! 24 for!the!story!get!the!better!of!me.!In!retrospect,!I! could!have!been!more!economical.!! !Do!I!regret!ruffling!a!few!feathers!and!naming!and! shaming!one!or!two!of!the!suspects?!No!way.!As! one!reader,!an!MCC!member!to!boot,!told!me!by! email,!it!was!a!story!that!“had!to!be!told”!M!which! brings!us!back!nicely!to!George!Orwell.!In!“Why!I! Write”,!he!also!listed!the!“four!great!motives!for! writing,!at!any!rate!for!writing!prose:!sheer! egoism,!aesthetic!enthusiasm,!historical!impulse!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The&disputed&ball’s&crucial&certificate&of&provenance&signed& by&Sobers ! ! and!political!purpose.”!Orwell!describes!the!third! reason!as!a!“desire!to!see!things!as!they!are,!to! find!out!true!facts!and!store!them!up!for!the!use!of! posterity.”! So!just!how!will!future!generations!look!back!on! the!Six!Sixes!story?!While!continuing!to!marvel!at! the!historic!feat!via!the!grainy!BBC!footage,!they! might!well!be!disturbed!by!the!shoddy! authentication!of!the!inanimate!victim!of!Sobers’! assault.!And!they!might!pose!another!simple! question!to!go!alongside!my!book’s!title.!Why! didn’t!Christie’s!ask!Nash?!Here’s!another!one!to! ponder:!does!it!really!matter!that!the!wrong!ball! was!sold?!Call!me!oldMfashioned!but!I!think!it!does.! !The!most!rewarding!response!to!the!book!came! from!Keith!Hayhurst,!the!Chairman!of!the!Cricket! Memorabilia!Society.!As!well!as!producing!a! heartfelt!review,!he!wrote!me!a!personal!letter!in! which!he!said!he!was!sure! Howzat? !would!be! “quoted!in!years!to!come!as!the!research!that!put! provenance!in!everyone’s!vocabulary”!–!along!the! lines!of!the!James!Seymour!court!judgement!in! 1920!which!ruled!that!cricketers’!benefits!would! not!be!taxed.!I!don’t!know!about!that!but!I!am! pleased!to!have!made!such!an!appreciated! contribution!to!the!world!of!cricketana!collecting.!! !!!!!!!!!!“Thanks!for!all!your!research,”!wrote!Keith.!! !!!!!!!!!!My!pleasure,!Mr!Chairman.!!! !