Letter: From pit to wicket

Sir: A tiny side note to the left-handedness-in-cricket correspondence. When I was playing league cricket in Durham in the Fifties and Sixties, it was accepted that teams from pit villages would have, if not a preponderance, an imbalance of left-handers.

The received explanation was that left-handed hewers were an asset in the days of cutting thin seams with pick and shovel.

Perhaps Durham University has an interesting research project on its doorstep - if it can act quickly, of course.

Yours faithfully,

J. GORDON BROWN

South Shields, Tyne & Wear

15 February