Letter: Gower's is not the only grace

Sir: H. C. Grant (Letters, 10 September) is right, of course. David Gower's batting is graceful and balletic, but what can compare with Michael Gatting's steely stare down the wicket as a fast one comes in, then elevating his bat to a perfect vertical as he interposes his pad precisely between ball and middle stump?

Alas, the rules of the game deny him the opportunity for an encore, and we are left only with the reprise of slow-motion to study the beauty of the performance.

Mr Gatting's movements, sadly denied the international public until the recent lifting of the ban, are none the less balletic, and justify his selection. Worthy of the part of, say, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Or, dare one suggest, the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Yours etc,

KARL WALDRON

Hamburg

10 September