In 1983, Robert Maxwell asked me to meet him at his then headquarters.

One wall of his vast private office was lined with books, including something I had never seen before – a complete set of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

When we were winding up, I mentioned this to Maxwell, and assuming a rueful smile he told me this story.

“Wisden,” he said, “was responsible for one of my business mistakes. One of very few, I should add! When we took over the printing, I discovered that a very large number of complimentary copies were going out, so I gave immediate orders for this to be cut.

Well, I thought no more about it until the following spring, when I received a message from the personal secretary to Prince Philip.

They told me that His Royal Highness had noticed that Her Majesty had received her copy of Wisden, so where was his?

MICHAEL WHELLER

Wooland Gardens, Wyke Regis