Book of the week: Bellies and Bulleyes: The Outrageous True Story of Darts, by Sid Waddell

Sid Waddell has just finished a meal of mince and tatties at Jocky Wilson's house when he notices that his host has left a blob of meat on his plate, his £2,000 false teeth perched proudly on top of it.

Wilson's wife, Malvina, arrives on the scene just in time to see the man responsible for such commentating gems as, "We could not have more excitement here if Elvis walked in and asked for a chip sandwich," and "It's like taking a sausage off a boy in a wheelchair," retching at the grim sight. "It's disgusting..." she hisses. Waddell is about to agree with her, only to be cut short by the punchline "...that man never finishes a meal".

It is such stories relating to the likes of Wilson, Leighton Rees, Bobby George and Eric Bristow that make the early chapters of Waddell's book so entertaining.

After all, in which other sport would you find the kind of gamesmanship that Rees once tried on John Lowe, turning up with eight pints of strong brown ale and greeting his next opponent with the line, "You've come a long way John, you must be thirsty. Get a few of these down you"?

The message that rings true is that darts remains one of the great working-class sports. It is difficult to imagine any other champion of Phil Taylor's standing – "Greatest living British sportsman" Waddell recalls The Independent once famously headlining him –turning up to a commentator's house and fixing the handles on his French windows.

Waddell's admiration of "The Power" and his achievements at the Professional Darts Corporation is clear. It is only those moments, however, when he touches on the latter organisation and the infamous split which tore the sport apart in the early 1990s that give me cause to raise issue with his book.

As the most famous darts commentator on Sky, the home of PDC coverage, it is understandable that Waddell is bound to take a certain viewpoint, but at times it all feels a touch one-sided. Taylor is rightly lauded for his nine-darter, but the same achievement by Shaun Greatbatch of the PDC's rival, the British Darts Organisation, is met with, "Oh for the record, a BDO bloke hit a nine-dart in Holland the other day".

This should not detract, however, from what is an enjoyable and important read from the man who has been right at the heart of many of the great moments in the history of the sport.

Ebury Press, £17.99, hardback