Binball is a sport, invented by schoolfriends Tom Whyman and Ivan Brett when bored with football at school this one time.

Essentially, the sport involves three balls, each similar in weight and size to a basketball, and two bins. There are two teams of fifteen, each with the aim of getting all three balls, at any one time, into their opponent's bin. This constitutes a 'hurley'. At the end of each game (a game lasts nine 'acres', or rounds), the team with the most hurleys win.

Under the Graaf-Becker Ruling (1998), however, hurleymaking is reversed, meaning, in effect, that there are now several ways of poncing a hurley, which are then divided up into different 'locks', or categories. These include:

- The three bin hurley, ie: the traditional hurley, which ponces a full lock.

- The majority hurley, ie: ducking two out of the three balls in the bin, with the pattern: Us-Them-Us, constituting a partial blue lock.

- The reverse hurley, ducking on the pattern them-us-us, reversing their ponce and putting the advantage on you, which obviously ponces a quarter lock, which is either purple or orange, depending on the referee.

- The deadened hurley, tradding the length us-us-them, garnering a pinch at a green tri-lock, following a free shot from navel, providing a clear line at the bin, should you ponce it.

Under the Graaf-Becker Ruling (1998), therefore, the fullest locksmith wins, but only if his colours, when mixed, make a sort of yellowish brown, or else the victor wins. This then rendered all previous scorelines obsolete, thus making semi-professional side Barnsley Town European Champions when the scores were all re-assessed.

The following year (1999), Kazuo Ishigoru, the head of the World Binball Association (WBA) and novelist, famously announced that, "following the announcement of the Graaf-Becker ruling, things have just gotten a bit too silly." The ruling was repealed, the scorelines de-assessed, and Barnsley stripped of their title, much to the dismay of their fan.

Binball's popularity has been on the rise, in this country at least, in recent years, perhaps because of Skysport's ever-popular 'Binball Hour', hosted by Geoffrey Boycott and featuring Just A Minute panelists Gyles Brandreth and Tony Hawks on hand to give their views on the weekend's Binball.

Binball - noun - sport.

Binball is the original and only surviving sport created during the 2005 Summer of Love in Abersoch, North Wales.

The real 'Bethlehem' of Binball was Gwell Y Mor campsite after a 80ltr bin was provided by Scatman John (the manager of the Gwell Y Mor site) to ensure his site was not desicrated by litter. Christian S Weaver, James O'Sullivan, and Nick Taylor worked on the early formation of the game's rules and regulations, aided by seasoned Bin inhabitant Camping Gaz...these early pioneers knew the significance of what they had created, and worked tirelessly to develop the finer points of the game.

Recently Binball has grown in popularity amongst a select squad of devoted players, with training taking place at the Stapleton training centre during the Summer months, and at smaller more fitness based centers such as Moss Side in Horwich during the colder Winter off-season.

Rules

Binball requires five key 'ingredients'.

The Pitch - an large (250sqft) area of neatly mown grass The Bin - a regulation 80ltr black refuse bin The Keeper - any item weighty enough to precipitate the stableness of the bin The Ball - a size 5, well pumped-up indoor football (ideally, the GAP promotional football) The Players - up to 8 - 10 players, well versed in the art of the volley

The aim of the game is to get the ball into the bin by vollying it between players. Play is begun by a 'bounce-out', where any player may take the ball, and vigorously propell ...