In response to a Guardian editorial on cricket fair play, readers have shared anecdotes revealing the sport's long history of underhand tactics. Tony Brown from Kingston, Ontario, recalls being told as a boy to watch a Yorkshire wicketkeeper who would nudge the stumps with his toe when the ball was close, making it appear as a legitimate bowled out. Brown notes that in those days, league cricket was serious business, not played for fun.
Regatta Antics and Other Scandals
Jonathan Fletcher from Helston, Cornwall, presents the Seagull outboard race scandal of 1963. At a regatta in Coverack, while hanging over the bow to keep it down, his boat was overtaken by a faster one. With a boathook, he carefully pushed the rival's fuel tap shut, causing them to mysteriously stop yards short of the finish line. Fletcher remains tight-lipped about whether they took the prize of 2/6d.
Richard Barnard from Wivenhoe, Essex, shares a humorous anecdote about dating fossils. He once bought a carton of rock salt whose label claimed the salt was 10 million years old, yet advised using it before the following August.
Dinner Debates and Social Work Memories
Ron Gould from Brighton, East Sussex, recalls starting as a social worker in 1969 when a client told him that dinner was the meal that had potatoes. This sparked a discussion on meal terminology, with Dr Bob Aron from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, admitting he's given up and just grazes all day. Pete Bibby from Sheffield adds that dinner is whenever the person cooking it says it is.
These letters were published in response to recent Guardian articles on cricket fair play, dating fossils, and the definition of dinner. Readers are encouraged to share their own opinions via email for consideration in the letters section.
