THE SIX SIXES BALL MYSTERY????

 Norfolk cricket lovers with a particular interest in the history of the game will be in for a treat if they attend an event being held in Norwich on Thursday 23rd October 2014.

The author of a book investigating the controversial sale of a ball which was supposedly hit for an historic six sixes by West Indian legend Garry Sobers in Swansea in 1968 will be speaking at a meeting of the Norfolk Cricket Society at the George Hotel.

The Duke & Son ball was sold for a world record £26,400 by Christie’s in 2006 but in Howzat? The Six Sixes Ball Mystery, freelance broadcaster and journalist Grahame Lloyd proves that it wasn’t the one bowled to Sobers by Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash at St Helen’s because it was the wrong make.

The actual ball used in the over was manufactured by Stuart Surridge and BBC TV footage confirms Nash’s assertion that it was the only one he bowled – not the last of three as claimed by Christie’s – during the Glamorgan versus Nottinghamshire county championship match.

“I used the same ball for all six deliveries,” says Nash, “and it was charred, scarred and scuffed but never changed. It’s interesting to note that Christie’s have never bothered to ask me about the ball I bowled and how many balls were used in the over.”

After the Duke ball was withdrawn from a sporting memorabilia auction in 2012 by Bonhams in Chester because of what they described as Lloyd’s “compelling and conclusive” evidence, Lloyd launched his 18-month investigation, Operation Howzat?, which tracked the ball from Swansea to Nottingham to London and finally to India.

“I unequivocally support Malcolm Nash’s contention that the ball isn’t genuine,” says Lloyd.

“I’ve tried to uncover the truth about its sale by Christie’s but with half the people involved refusing to discuss it, my search hasn’t been easy. I think it’s best to leave it to the readers of the book to make up their own minds about the controversy.

“I’m very disappointed that the unwritten 43^rd Law of Cricket covering the exercise of common sense has been ignored by Christie’s. What happened to that ball in 2006 is ‘just not cricket’.”

During the course of Operation Howzat?, Lloyd discovered that:

* Although Sobers signed a certificate of authenticity to verify the ball, he didn’t profit from its auction at Christie’s. The former West Indies and Nottinghamshire captain describes himself as a “very innocent bystander”

* Two former Christie’s specialists – their then head of sporting memorabilia David Convery,

who now runs Convery Auctions in Scotland, and the Manchester Jewish Museum’s current chief executive, Max Dunbar – declined to discuss their part in the ball’s sale

* Glamorgan County Cricket Club’s archivist and the curator of the Museum of Welsh Cricket, Andrew Hignell, refused to answer questions about his role in the ball’s verification process

* Having re-investigated the 2006 auction, Christie’s stand by the ball’s original “good provenance” and the “signed certificate”

Howzat? The Six Sixes Ball Mystery features extensive interviews with Sobers, Nash and Jose Miller, the former secretary of the Nottinghamshire Supporters’ Association, who sold the ball at Christie’s in 2006.

It was nominated for the 2014 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year award and has been described as “a terrifically dotty whodunnit, driven by one man’s relentless, borderline- psychotic quest for answers” (Wisden), “the most original cricket book that has been published in years” (cricketweb.net), “a cracking read and unhesitatingly recommended” (Cricket Society), “the product of diligent and disciplined investigative journalism…a compelling read” (Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians) and “a skilfully crafted and highly absorbing book…a triumph” (Backspin magazine).

Grahame Lloyd’s illustrated talk to members of the Norfolk Cricket Society takes place at the George Hotel in Arlington Lane, off Newmarket Road in Norwich at 7.45pm on Thursday 23rd October 2014. All are welcome and admission costs £4 for non-members.

Howzat? The Six Sixes Ball Mystery by Grahame Lloyd (foreword by Matthew Engel, former editor of Wisden) is published by Celluloid Ltd. Signed copies can be obtained for £14.99 from the author at grahameatcelluloid@btinternet.com or on 01522 – 542555 or 07980 – 541899.