Balyna Discbat Cricket wanted!

Received this email from Don, who is after a copy of Balyna Discbat Cricket. [March 2010: I have now deleted Don's email address as he has a copy of the game now, so thanks to all those who contacted him!]

“I’m looking to purchase Balyna if you come across one – I’ve actually seen a couple of sets in the last week – one at auction [estimate £60-80] – and one currently on eBay with bidding starting at £9.99 but it seems it’s in pretty poor condition, has a marble instead of the original ball and with fielders missing.

If you have a set in good working order, could you answer one question for me: I know how the batting mechanism works but I can’t remember if the batting gantry attaches to the metal perimeter fence in any way [if so, are there some metal rods or screws that come with the set?] or does the player have to hold the gantry steady with one hand and operate the string/bat with the other? Also, does your set have the original small metal ball?

It’s probably 45 years since I played it, but I loved it. I played timeless tests with my brother [he was always Australia - Lawrie, Simpson, etc] when we weren’t engaged with the subbuteo [when the teams were either red or blue and the ball was as big as the players - who were virtually 2-D as I recall, and not so easy to glue back when broken].“