Sports letter: Australian pitches will suit spinners

Sir, I would like to reply to Mr Stewart Raves' letter "Barrel-scraping" published on 30 September, in which he asked why England were taking bowlers who finished eighth from bottom of the bowling averages.

Did he take into account the pitches that they played on this summer? Due to the weather this year the wickets have been generally damp and soft, and so totally unsuited to spinners such as Robert Croft and Peter Such, who need hard, dry pitches to get anything out of them. And what are the wickets going to be like in Australia? Hard and dry! Wickets aimed to suit spinners.

If you look at the bottom of the averages (published 22 September) you would see Croft, Tufnell, Sheriyar, N Smith, Such, Stemp and Coaker, all of whom are spin bowlers!

HUMPHREY EMERY

Sheffield