Sensational Scandal in Buenos Aires full story by Barnet Shenkin prev/next

Scandal at Buenos Aires 1965. The Most Sensational-ever Story in the World of Bridge.

The following is a true event that took place in 1965. Of the people involved in the story, I knew the following personally:

Boris Schapiro: one of the accused. His wife Helen was in charge, with his help, in organizing the Sunday Times International pairs Tournament, later known as the Macallan. This was the finest event of its time and held annually. I got to know Boris fairly well. He was a man with a quick, dry, outrageous wit and a very fine bridge player.

Terence Reese: I met Reese in the early Seventies. He came to Glasgow, to play with my friend Irving Rose. Reese was and still is the most famous-ever bridge player. He wrote many fine books about bridge including "The Expert Game".

His books are classics, acclaimed worldwide and translated into many languages. He is considered by many, the best author in bridge history. He also had an outstanding playing record. His partnership with Schapiro had started 17 years previously, and in this period, they had won the World Championships in 1955 and were second in 1960. They were second in the World Pairs in 1962. They were European Champions, Europe’s toughest tournament on four occasions.

Jeremy Flint: One of the British team playing in Buenos Aires. Later his stepdaughter Annette married my friend Irving Rose. Flint had already started to partner Reese, and they were playing a new artificial system called “The Little Major”. I played on a few teams with Flint and partnered him in one tournament.

Alan Truscott: One of the main accusers who later wrote the book “The Great Bridge Scandal”. Alan originally from England, went to live in USA and became the bridge journalist for the New York Times for more than forty years from the early sixties. I became friendly with Alan after arriving in USA.

Ralph Swimer: He was the non- playing captain of the British team. I met Ralph after moving to London in the late eighties. A quiet spoken man, his business was importing like mine. His life along with others was changed irrevocably by the events that took place.

Louis Shenkin: My father was on the British Bridge League Council as a delegate for the Scottish Bridge Union. He later took over the organising of the British end of the investigation, and became the Chairman of the British Bridge League.

The British team playing in 1965 consisted of six great players. Reese, had been playing a highly artificial system called “the little major” with Jeremy Flint. They finished first in the pairs trial to select the team for Buenos Aires. Schapiro playing with Kenneth Konstam, aka Konnie finished second in the trials. The selectors added Harrison- Gray to play with Albert Rose - no relation to Irving Rose. Rose had finished third in the trials with Ralph Swimer. In these old days the selectors believed their job was to select players and not partnerships. They replaced Ralph Swimer who had finished third in the trials with Harrison- Gray. This kind of thing would not happen today in most countries. Swimer was voted to be the team’s captain. While the captain has to decide which four of the six players to line up for each match he usually does not have a difficult time of it. He does not play himself, and apart from the selection, his main duties are to attend meetings, and raise his team's spirits when necessary, perhaps after suffering a heavy defeat.

Swimer knew that with Reese and Schapiro not on great terms as a result of Reese playing this new system with Flint, it was possible he might not have such a leisurely time in Buenos Aires .However, he accepted his post. In retrospect, that was a grave mistake.

The year was 1965, and teams were meeting to play for the World Bridge Championship in Buenos Aires, “The Bermuda Bowl”. The favoured teams, along with the Italian Champions, were the teams from USA and Great Britain- the fourth team was Argentina. In those days only four teams played for the Championship. Today the new rules allow many more teams the opportunity to play a great event over two weeks. A round robin is followed by a KO event.

Some say “it is a small world”. When I moved in 1997 to Boca Raton, Florida, USA I immediately became friendly with Mike Becker, a fellow bridge player and golfer.

It was his late father, BJ Becker, who started the ball rolling in what turned out to be and up to now is the biggest ever “story” in bridge. B J Becker noticed that both Reese and Schapiro were holding their cards in an unusual way showing various fingers spread in a V at the front of their cards. The number of fingers showing was variable. He was concerned that illegal information was being transmitted to each partner in the way of a signal. So, Becker chose to ask two people, Alan Truscott , the journalist for the New York Times and John Gerber, the captain of the US team, to observe Reese and Schapiro in action. When the observers thought signals were being transmitted, they then asked the British Captain, Ralph Swimer and Geoffrey Butler who was Chairman of the British Bridge League to observe. It was directly as a result of this matter, that my father Louis was later appointed as Chairman of the British Bridge League after Butler had stepped down. At first, Alan Truscott did not believe the accusations, but after observing the pair in action formed a new opinion that they were exchanging signals and then tried to break the code. He worked with Dorothy Hayden, the partner of Becker and together they decided that the finger signals being transmitted corresponded to the number of hearts being held in the hand of Reese and Schapiro.

It seems that three of the observers, Truscott, Swimer and Gerber, the US captain were absolutely convinced that the pair was cheating, while Butler who denied technical expertise did note fingers displayed, corresponding to the apparent code on most of the hands.

The World Bridge Federation called a meeting, and summoned Reese and Schapiro. The result was a statement made to the players involved .The World Bridge Federation basically found the pair guilty. Swimer, the British captain suspended them from play and forfeited the matches to Argentina and the United States However the official WBF statement released to the press was as follows: ”Certain irregularities have been reported; the Appeals Committee fully investigated the matter and later convened a meeting of the Executive Committee of the World Bridge Federation. The captain of the British team was present.” As a result of this meeting the Captain of the British squad decided to play only K .Konstam, M.Harrison-Gray, A.Rose and J. Flint in the remaining sessions and very sportingly conceded the matches with the United States and Argentina. A report of the matter will be sent to the British Bridge League." There was no reference to finger signals.

Italy won the World Championship again- the Blue Team was invincible. The 1965 World Championship was over but the Reese –Schapiro affair was not, it was just beginning.

The enquiry was held in private. In order to prove guilt the prosecution was required to do so without a reasonable doubt. That is the standard of Justice in England. In Scotland a judge can find a verdict of “Not Proven” as an alternative to guilty or not guilty. Sir John made clear that that was not an option.

The fund for the defense was assisted by Tim Holland, one of the owners of Crockfords, a famous London card club. The defense was represented by Leonard Caplan, a Queens Counsel with an excellent track record. Simon Goldblatt was the lawyer in charge of proving the case. Over the long course of the tribunal, five witnesses appeared for the prosecution. The current Chairman of the BBL, Geoffrey Butler and the Captain of the British team Ralph Swimer were joined over time by Becker, Hayden and Alan Truscott, who all flew in from USA. Their testimony was based on direct observation.

For the defense, two players testified .Jeremy Flint, was a very close friend and bridge partner of Terence Reese, and Kenneth Konstam, also a highly successful player. The chief tournament director of France, Irene Bajos de Heredia was joined by Harold Franklin, the chief tournament director of the English Bridge Union. I knew Harold Franklin well. He was a close friend of my father and later on invited me to USA to play a match in 1976 for the Redcoats v the Patriots in Philadelphia, for the Bicentennial celebrations. Jaime Ortiz Patino a Swiss player, who later became President of the World Bridge Federation aided the defense, along with a statistician Eric Figgis. Surprisingly, the deputy captain of the USA team Sammy Kehela sided with the defense. Originally, he thought after his own observation, that they were exchanging signals, but he later changed his mind. Kehela, soon became a brilliant Canadian international player, and along with Eric Murray became the most famous bridge partnership in Canada’s history. Kehela, by his own admission since the start of his playing days had put Terence Reese on a pedestal, and viewed him as perhaps the world’s best ever bridge player.

The witnesses for the prosecution, all confirmed that the pattern of number of hearts in Reese's and Schapiro’s hands coincided with the code of the fingers displayed on the back of the playing cards. This was over a significant sample of deals. A bombshell was dropped by Ralph Swimer, who, when examined, stated that Schapiro had confessed to him during a walk after the hearing in Buenos Aires. He quoted Schapiro “That evil man made me do it” because they would not play “The Little Major “ system. When cross- examined the defense suggested this story, as well as being untrue, had just been made up on the spur of the moment to aid his testimony. Remarkably, he produced an unopened letter written to himself from Buenos Aires, concerning Schapiro’s confession. He had written it, he said while events were clear in his mind, and in case something happened to him before returning to London. The defense kept the letter out of testimony, by accepting the fact that the story had not been just recently fabricated .This letter was in fact opened, and read at a later libel case .It may be hard for the reader to appreciate the importance of the meaning of these events to the people concerned and how it would changes lives of the participants for ever. It was like the Watergate of the Bridge World. It is not clear why Ralph Swimer did not produce this unopened letter earlier. One theory is that, were it true, Schapiro threatened suicide and he did not want that responsibility on his hands.

On August 9th 1966, the Council of the British Bridge League met to consider the Foster Report. From “Story of an Accusation “ Terence Reese” 1966, ”We (Reese and Schapiro) took chairs at the end of the table facing Louis Shenkin, (my father), the Scottish delegate who had taken over the chair for this enquiry. He said he would read over the following statement he would be giving to the press".

The joint report by Sir John Foster and Lord Bourne, into certain allegations of cheating at the World Championships in 1965 made against Messrs Reese and Schapiro, was received by the council today. After full discussion the arguments and recommendations by Sir John Foster and Lord Bourne, the finding in the report that Messrs Reese and Schapiro were not guilty of cheating was accepted. A copy of the report was sent to the WBF.

The council wishes to express its sincere thanks to Sir John Foster and Lord Bourne for having conducted the inquiry as a public duty and without fee, and to the assessors and all witnesses who voluntarily attended to give evidence at the enquiry. Reese then asked “As you know, during the past year, we have suffered a great deal of damaging publicity, surely we are entitled to know the contents of the report? There may be some aspect of it that could be of some value to us. He then writes, Shenkin answered " We have considered that aspect of the matter, but we have decided not to publish the report”. Then, Shenkin read the statement to the reporters.

The contents of the report were kept confidential in the UK for a long time, although it did manage to cross the Atlantic and was published in Jan 1967 in the ACBL bulletin.

The reader may ask himself how the report, in the face of strong evidence, could acquit. Firstly the feeling was, that the enquiry in Buenos Aires was hurried, and the evidence inadequate. Secondly, the main reason was that in examination of the hands, it was felt there was no conclusive evidence that any advantages were being gained and taken. When a pair exchanges illegal information it is customary to find clear examples of these signals being used. While the prosecution argued that there were many instances the defense refuted these arguments with expert witnesses. Both arguments for and against the point of using the alleged signals contain merit.

Sir John decided not to accept the testimony of the confession, from the British Captain Ralph Swimer. The defense had said their relationship was one of acrimony and Schapiro would never have chosen to confess to him. Alan Truscott disputes this point in his book. Another two reasons were given. One was that Swimer kept this confession a secret, and never told anybody at the time. The second is the weak reason given for apparently agreeing to signal – not playing the little major. Nobody accepts that. The defense contends it obviously would never have been the case, and the prosecution looks at this as a smokescreen put up by Schapiro to cover up further transgressions.

Contained within the Foster report was the following statement “the effect of a finding of cheating is just as serious for those accused as a finding of guilt of a crime. The standard of proof required in a criminal court to return a verdict should be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt. We think that the same standard should be applied here and that the indirect or technical evidence raises such a doubt.”

The report concludes “We therefore think that the direct evidence as to the exchange of finger signals, strong as it is, cannot be accepted by us because of the reasonable doubt which we feel on these two grounds."

The official verdict was not guilty in the UK but many had their doubts, my late father amongst them. Here, he wrestles with the text of the press announcement. (A)

The WBF never accepted the conclusion of the Foster report and the British Bridge League. My father had to write them, to see if and when they would accept Reese and Schapiro as representatives of a British team. (B)They would not, so the British Bridge League were at odds with the WBF. In April 1967, the European Bridge League asked the World Bridge Federation to accept the Foster verdict and reverse its finding of guilty. A month later in Miami the World Bridge Federation voted unanimously to reaffirm its original finding of guilty. The world body also voted to reserve to its full executive the right to veto a player’s application to play or be a captain in a world tournament if they had been “found guilty of irregular practices.

In 1968, in protest, Britain refused to send a team to the Olympiad in Deauville. In 1970 the WBF decided finally to allow Reese back to play in World Bridge Federation events but not with Schapiro as partner. Reese played in Stockholm in the World Pairs with another partner.

Inside Britain the trials for the team were in disarray, with Reese refusing to play against their accuser Swimer. The BBL allowed a special situation, so they would not have to play across the table with each other, but only their teammates. This was not satisfactory to Reese and Flint, and they,along with two other pairs, withdrew in protest from the British trials. I remember the flurry of calls to my father at our home in Glasgow.

In addition, there was a libel action taken by Ralph Swimer against one of Reese and Schapiro’s chief supporters, Rixie Markus. We will look at that later.

Very promptly Reese’s book appeared on the scene. “Story of an Accusation "was published in 1966. A well written book- it gives his side of the story with logical explanations. Terence Reese was a brilliant writer - so innocent or guilty you would expect no less. Later, there appeared Alan Truscott’s book The Great Bridge Scandal. This was a large hard backed book. The book not only dealt with Buenos Aires but other instances in bridge and in life where aspersions were cast by various people against the characters of both Reese and Schapiro. This book was banned in Great Britain. I remember the mischievous look on my father’s face as he sent to the post office to get his copy mailed from USA. A banned book: amazing, the only book I ever heard of banned was “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and it was sneaked about the school corridors.

In fact, neither Reese nor Schapiro represented Great Britain as a player in International team competition again. However, in 1976 Reese was chosen as non- playing captain of the British team for the Olympiad in Monte Carlo. His credentials were approved by the WBF. A very young Michael Rosenberg (21) and myself (25) led those trials until the very last board before losing out and missing our spot on the team. We were the reserve pair. I went to watch and have a holiday. The British team shot off with a big lead but then started to change their partnerships. This is most unusual in such an event normally contested by three fixed partnerships. Flint scheduled to play with Rose sometimes played with Sheehan and Rose sometimes played with Sheehan. The upshot was that the team finished third. We will never know if they would have won without that or how they would have done if my partner and I had made the team. Of course it was Reese’s ultimate decision as the captain to allow the partner swapping.

One of the World’s leading monthly bridge publications “The Bridge World” (USA based), published in 1965 articles about the event and invited Rixie Markus to give the opinions of the English bridge community. The editor, Alfonse Moyse Jr., received a number of letter from Mrs Markus, one of the World’s best ever woman players. She was a good friend of both of the accused and, although she had not actually been in Buenos Aires, defended them stoically. The magazine published some of her comments which included the following sentence “How can I ever play for my country where my captain becomes a part of a conspiracy to convict me of a crime.” Ralph Swimer, the captain, did not receive this and other remarks well and when she would not withdraw them or apologise started a libel action. The case came to court in February 1969. At this action Swimer reaffirmed his earlier views. During this trial the famous letter described earlier was opened and read. This is where Swimer tells of Schapiro’s alleged confession in a walk in the park. Swimer had then addressed the letter to himself. The London Times quoted from the case. Mr Swimer said ”I saw them cheating with my own eyes“. When asked “are you absolutely sure you saw Reese and Schapiro cheating“ he replied “Absolutely”. The jury had to decide whether the remarks against Mr Swimer were defamatory. While it appeared to observers that the judge leaned towards Swimer, the jury was unable to come to a unanimous verdict, which was required under English law. The costs of the action were some 26000 pounds, a very substantial sum in these days and were shared by Ralph Swimer and Mrs Markus. Swimer decided not to pursue the matter but there is no question that his whole life, of which bridge was a very big part had been changed forever.

In June 2005 David Rex-Taylor wrote an article published in many countries, and referred to in many national newspapers, including the New York Times. For a long period of time, Rex-Taylor was the editor of the International Bridge Press Association. He said, his close friend, Terence Reese had privately told him what had really happened. He said the conversation started after his referring to the comment allegedly made by Schapiro to Swimer. “That evil man made me do it.” Rex - Taylor substitutes the word “wicked “for “evil.” Reese started by saying “hardly fair comment by Boris, wickedness didn’t come into it.” The story was only to be revealed forty years after the incident, and after the deaths of both Reese and Schapiro. According to his account, Reese was researching a book into cheating that he was going to have published. Rex - Taylor writes about Reese”. He persuaded a reluctant Schapiro that, as world champions, it would be quite unthinkable that they would cheat, that no one would be even paying attention to such an idea, and that in any event, absolutely no signaled information would be used in any way whatsoever during the actual play…."

“A reluctant Boris finally agreed, strictly on the understanding that the whole exercise be revealed in full detail in the book on cheating, with analysis to prove that they had both acted honourably throughout the play of the hands, as if they had no prior knowledge of the heart distribution, so confirming their worthy innocent objective and secondly, that publication be a priority--- Although judged not guilty in the UK at a hearing widely considered flawed by blatant cherry- picking of both evidence and witnesses, elsewhere the pair were proven guilty. -Reese could not reveal the true explanation at the time as the very objective of his extraordinary operation- effectively an author’s failed publicity stunt- had so spectacularly back-fired in abject failure. Pleading anything but innocence was therefore not an option for either player."

So, as requested, after forty years, I have provided a mouthpiece in order for Terence Reese to explain these exceptional matters to the world from beyond the grave. He was unrepentant.

If you assume that the Terence Reese – David Rex – Taylor incident happened, as described, it would then be a question for the reader to make up their mind if the explanation is believable. As far as the observations and photographs are concerned the story would fit. As far as the analysis of the bridge hands is concerned, each side put up arguments whether Reese and Schapiro used knowledge of the heart suit to their advantage. If it had been known at the time that the signals were being exchanged, this would have likely been looked at differently.Should they have not been taking advantage of the signals,it would be reasonable to assume that some of these examples would not have occurred. In any event it is absolutely against the rules of bridge to exchange any signals regardless of whether they are used for benefit. What of Ralph Swimer, and his story of Schapiro’s confession, which would certainly be given much more credence if Rex- Taylor’s story is believed? It would seem unthinkable and illogical, that Schapiro would not have offered this explanation at the time, if in fact he had confessed to his captain and the explanation was true. If true, Swimer would have been entitled to win his libel action and be saved from the ensuing part of his life, where he suffered taunts and ostracism from members in the other camp.

Terence Reese, Britain’s most famous bridge player, stopped playing after 1970. After captaining the British team to a bronze medal in 1976, he then retired absolutely from the game. He spent much of his time playing backgammon, which he enjoyed but was a very average player. He played the game he was a master of no more, but continued writing. He died in 1996.

Boris Schapiro continued to play, inside Great Britain, in national tournaments. In 1998 he won the Gold Cup- the main British Championship for the eleventh time. He was 89 at the time, an age record. In the same year he won the World Senior Pairs Championship in Lille France. He is believed to be the oldest person ever to have won a major title in any game or sport. Schapiro was very impulsive and was often outrageous with his choice of words. His friends attributed this to his particular sense of humour and if it was misdirected would usually be laughed off. Boris was the journalist for the Sunday Times. He organized for many years an International Pairs event, in conjunction with The British Bridge League. Originally called the Sunday Times, later it was sponsored and called the Macallan. Many of the games top stars came to play from around the world. I was fortunate to be invited on five occasions from 1976 on and to win twice. In the early seventies my late father Louis and I were visiting London to watch the tournament. It was a reverent scene- the players all wore tuxedos. Boris had a white one. He usually chose a different partner to play with each year, either a friend from Britain or top European player. On this occasion he was playing with another top British player. The players were seated, and there were a few spectators around them. My father and I strolled over to Boris, and my father asked quite innocently. “What system are you playing Boris?” He instantly got the reply from Boris "We are playing the hearts Louis, playing the hearts!!!"

Boris Schapiro died in 2002 without ever admitting to any guilt in the Buenos Aires Affair. He denied “confessing” to his captain at the time and Sir John Foster chose to believe him and not Swimer.

In 2004 Alan Truscott brought out a second edition of his book “The Great Bridge Scandal." In it he introduces a number of different instances and accounts where the ethics of Reese are severely questioned. One main instance is from the World Olympiad in Turin in 1960. Here, an American, Don Oakie (a member of their laws committee) being suspicious of Reese and Schapiro, had watched them for a session taking notes. Oakie alleged, that as well as both players holding their cards showing a different number of fingers on the back, they changed holding their cards from the left hand to the right hand. Oakie alleged this also had a meaning as to the strength of their hand. Truscott agreed, and showed a correlation in the fingers being displayed, and the number of hearts held, exactly similar to the code he said they used in Buenos Aires. Here, Truscott shows that if the facts were correct, the signals Reese allegedly admitted in conversation to David Rex-Taylor using, were in force five years earlie.

As for holding the cards in different hands, personally, I cannot imagine a world class bridge player making himself a target for accusation by continually switching the hand in which he held his cards. I believe both Reese and Schapiro to be far too astute to employ such easily detectable methods. It does though make you wonder why they would hold their cards in different hands, or if the story was true.

As far as making the game of bridge a cleaner game by reducing the potential for cheating, there is no doubt that the Buenos Aires Affair prompted changes to be made. In 1975, the World Bridge Federation introduced the use of screens. In World Championship play, each player sits on the same side of a screen as an opponent and cannot see their partner at all during the bidding and only the cards being played during the play. These days it is not unknown, for the two opponents to enjoy some camaraderie, at the expense of a partner on the other side of the screen. Using a pencil and paper the players write explanations of the bidding. I have seen a player write, “My partner is crazy he must have forgotten the system."

A final story.In the late1990s, my wife Maggie and I, were invited to a wedding at a nice hotel in London. It was a strange wedding for us, in that the men sat together and the women sat together. I had sitting on my left Boris Schapiro. When it came to the dessert he turned to me, and said quite out of the blue. “You know Barnet, your father thought Terence and I were guilty of cheating.” I replied “A lot of people did Boris, not just my father.” He leaned over to me and continued in his way, “Well I am the only person left alive who knows the truth, what do you think of that?” Taking this as an invitation I took the bait, "Well Boris do you want to set the record straight, with me anyway?” He leaned over to my side and went as if to whisper in my ear. Anyone familiar with Boris Schapiro, would not be surprised to hear, that what I heard was a not unfamiliar expression- a phrase containing a word not to be found anywhere in the English dictionary. Too bad I had missed the opportunity for a scoop.

There is no doubt if there is an after life Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro will be playing bridge in a cardroom somewhere. It is up to the reader to form their own opinion and guess the location of the cardroom.

Sources for this article:

The Great Bridge Scandal - Alan Truscott, Masterpoint Press
Story of an Accusation - Terence Reese, Heinemann London
The Foster Report - Sir John Foster and Lord Bourne
Papers of Louis Shenkin

Dlr: East Vul: N-S	NQ 10 K 10 7 9 8 7 4 K J 7 4
WJ 6 5 6 5 J 3 2 10 9 8 6 5		EA 9 8 7 2 9 2 K Q 10 4 A 3
	SK 4 3 A Q J 8 4 3 A 6 Q 2

West	North	East	South
REESE	FORQUET	SCHAPIRO	GAROZZO
		1	X
P	2	2!!	2N
P	P	P

Here east bids 2 hearts opposite a passed partner, a bid that should show at least four hearts and sometimes five. The prosecution argued. This is a most strange bid carrying high risk. In an attempt to muddy the waters for the opponents east risks his partner supports hearts at a much higher level the four level and a resulting disaster ensues. However, if East knows by a signal, that West holds just two hearts, there is no danger of support, and the obstruction can only gain.E/W will find safety in 2 spades or three diamonds. East knows the opponents have nine hearts and game in hearts. To a competent player this would seem compelling evidence but Reese answers in his book. East knew his partner was very weak. As the vulnerability was favourable it was reasonable for east to attempt this psychic maneuver. He explains “As to the alleged risk, if I ,as West had just one spade but five hearts, I too could have would certainly be alive to the possibility that partner’s heart bid may not be genuine. Reese also makes a point that if he knew his partner was short in hearts he too could have bid hearts to try and fool the opponents. Reese was not known for making such bids with any frequency.

A hand from Buenos Aires. Here Reese shows 3 fingers on the backs of the cards and has three hearts. The British Captain, Ralph Swimer looks on sitting in Reese’s left and is taking notes. Look how immaculately the players are dressed in 1965. You don’t see that these days. Source: The Great Bridge Scandal.The right hand opponent is Marcelo Lerner representing Argentina. He is now 87 and still playing : he won the Senior South American Championships just last year ! See his comments below

From Marcelo Lerner

Thank you for allowing me to add something to your article. I think it shows perfectly what happened in Buenos Aires though there may be a small difference. In those days the general opinion was that Dorothy Hayden started the investigation and finally discovered the code after several nights observing hand after hand. Of course she consulted with her partner Becker and afterwards with Alan Truscott. In the photo you show, I am sitting at the right of Reese. It is true, we wore tuxedo to play at night,it was normal those days. Of course, my partner Alberto Berisso and I didn’t know anything about what was happening. Next day I was carrying books to ask Reese to sign them, when I received the terrible notice. I must add that Reese and Schapiro had already left Buenos Aires. The rest of the England team remained here and wentt o the final dinner party. There they became largely applauded by the players and the rest of the guests that assisted to the party. Sincerely yours, Marcelo Lerner

Letter from Sir John thanking my father for gift of wine sent by the BBL as a small token for 15 months work which was performed free of charge.

My father’s notes working on the press announcement.

Above from page 8 of the Foster Report.

The final paragraph of the Foster Report. Note signed with a blue pen by Sir John Foster and Lord Bourne. This is the original copy from 1966.

The Great Bridge Scandal can be obtained from me at a price of $21-95 + p and p. A copy of the original Foster Report ( 11 pages) can be added for $10. email: barnet@shenkinbridge.com

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