LETTERS Taken at the flood
Sir: I agree with William Deedes who, in celebrating the survival of the game, (`How cricket can be saved,' 10 May) declared that the reasons for the West Indies' triumph are more complex than they have been made to appear.' I was fortunate enough to see the Barba- dos Test and lucky to unearth the secret of West Indian cricket during excavations for a sand castle on the rest day. I discovered that David Gower lost the series due to his failure to grasp the significance of the island tides in the Caribbean. At the Kensington Oval the water table sits only a few feet below the pitch. As the tide comes in the table rises and moisture permeates up through the wicket giving an extra zip to the fearsome four. At low tide the advan- tage shifts to the spinners. Hence the captain must decide on the toss, rotate his bowlers and take the new ball to fit in with the tidal flows. Clearly, it is just as ridicu- lous to give Botham the ball as the tide ebbs as it is to expect Emburey to thrive at high tide.
Cricket may still be a game of chance and, while it is true that Halley's comet and a full moon made predicting the venom of the spring tides particularly hazardous, David Gower as captain must pay the ultimate price for the walk-over. He should be tossed bare-headed into the ring to face Marshall and Patterson!
John Baldwin
Cat-i'th'-Window Farm, Stadish, Wigan
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