24 for 3

The title comes from England's second innings score at the start of the final day of a Test cricket match against India, which forms the backdrop to the story; each of the chapters is set on one day of the five-day match; from Friday through to Tuesday.

It was only at the Society of Authors awards ceremony in June 2008 that most people realised that the author was in fact a man: 'Many initially assumed Boyle must be Walker's agent when he walked up to accept the £4,000 McKitterick Prize'.[3]

A woman whose life is split between her lover (a loss adjuster) and husband worries about the whereabouts of her teenage son and wonders about the rules of cricket. Her husband draws elaborate diagrams of fielding positions, in contrast her lover prefers mystery. As the woman becomes more intrigued by the game she draws parallels between the characters in her life and the strategies of the game...

The author, frustrated at his inability to find a publisher, set up his own publishing house CB Editions to get it in to print.[4] After receiving positive reviews the book then gained the backing of Bloomsbury Publishing who published it with a quote on the cover from Mick Jagger saying that he 'loved it'.[5] It was published under the title The Rules of Play in the US by Soho Press in 2010.[6]

• 2007, UK, CB Editions, ISBN 0-9557285-0-9, Pub date Nov 2007, Paperback
• 2008, UK, Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-9792-8, Pub date 4 Aug 2008, Hardback
• 2009, UK, Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-9875-4, Pub date 6 Jul 2009, Paperback
• 2010, US, Soho Press, ISBN 1-56947-625-X, Pub date Jan 2010, Hardback (as The Rules of Play)
• 2011, US, Soho Press, ISBN 1-56947-884-8, Pub date 4 Jan 2011, Paperback (as The Rules of Play)

• Book review roundup from The Omnivorebook reviews
• online excerpt