A freelance broadcaster and journalist for more than thirty years, Grahame Lloyd is the author of eight books, including Daffodil Days: Glamorgan's Glorious Summer (Gomer), the official celebration of the country's 1997 championship win, and Six of the Best: Cricket's Most Famous Over (Celluloid) which marked the 40th anniversary of Garry Sobers hitting six sixes off a six-ball over for the first time in the history of the game at St. Helen's in Swansea in 1968.

The book is an excellent account of Lloyd's painstaking battle to get to the bottom of the fact that the ball that Christie's sold was in fact a fake one. The book has ignited a row involving the bowler on the receiving end of the famous feat.

In Howzat? The Six Sixes Ball Mystery, Grahame Lloyd traces the ball's journey from England to India and uncovers startling new evidence to shed fresh light on its vexing verification and controversial sale.

In his introductory chapter, Lloyd remarks: "As my evidence piled up, I failed to understand how a Duke could have supplanted a Surridge - especially as the BBC TV footage of the extraordinary event showed the same ball being used throughout the over. Operation Howzat? was firmly based on fact, supported by personal recollection. The camera doesn't lie and, neither does Nash. If anyone should know the make of the ball, it is undoubtedly him - and he has steadfastly insisted he bowled the same Surridge ball six times to Sobers 45 years ago this summer."

Former Wisden Editor, Matthew Engel has written an impressive Foreword: "The sporting memorabilia market is a very odd one. Normally shrewd people will, after a few drinks, pay large sums for a signed cricket bat they would never dare spoil by wielding on the field. But they usually do that for charity. When it becomes serious business we risk not just opening cans of worms but treading on nests of vipers.

"The ball Garry Sobers hit six times for six off Malcolm Nash in 1968 perhaps deserves to be the most famous ball in history. It has certainly become the most controversial. Or at least that's true of the ball that Sobers allegedly hit. Grahame Lloyd has spent years trying to unravel the truth about this ball. One might say his quest has become as obsessive as the urge to own such an object. But it is an absolutely fascinating tale. It centres on one of the most famous moments in cricket's history, made more resonant because - by pure fluke - it was filmed and televised by the BBC."

Summing up, Lloyd remarks, "I may not have completely cracked the Six Sixes Ball Mystery but I hope you'll agree I've had a jolly good go. Enjoy the journey."

A thoroughly worthwhile and readable book. An excellent production indeed.