Schools cricket
Sir: It remains a pleasure to read Alan Gib- son on cricket but in his review of the 1983 Wisden (14 May) he is mistaken in sug- gesting that schools cricket (which as he says mainly means public schools cricket) should be excluded from future editions. There is, in fact, a strong case of an exten- sion of the space given to public schools cricket rather than reduction; this season, for instance, over 60 cricketers playing at county level learnt the game at independent schools which represents, approximately, 20 per cent of those playing the first-class game today. This suggests these schools are, once again as was the case previously, pro- ducing an impressive number of first-class cricketers. So important a source of players (and it may become more important in future) justifies a fuller coverage as it must reflect the very healthy state of the game as played in most public schools.
I have had immense pleasure, during the last few years, watching cricket played on the grounds of some of the great schools Malvern, Repton, Cheltenham, Marl- borough and so on. My impression is that, played in these surroundings, the game is the purest and most enjoyable form of cricket, another reason why Wisden would do well to devote more, rather than less, space to these games; such coverage would
be more widely welcomed than your reviewer imagines. In fact it would be in- teresting to reproduce score sheets of some of the more traditional and famous school matches, as was the case not very long ago' you don't have to have a 'beloved nephew playing to be interested in public schools cricket from which, incidentally, the renaissance of English cricket could well spring.
Michael Morgan 18 Snowbury Road, London SW6
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