Your editorial (15 July) says: “Never try to explain Test cricket to an American.” I took an American guest – it was her first cricket match – to Lord’s for the third day of the recent Test match between England and India. In terms of the kind of “excitement” that is the hallmark of T20 and the ghastly Hundred (explosive batting, athletic fielding), the day was somewhat lacking. At times, play was slow, almost becalmed. However, at the end of the day she pronounced that it had been one of her favourite sporting occasions, and despite leaving England the next day, she practically begged me to consider taking her again as a guest next year.
It turns out that generalising about a country or its people isn’t quite the slam dunk (to borrow a phrase from one of her favourite sports) that your editorial seems to think it is.
Edward Collier
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
