THE EDITOR, Sir:

An open letter to Damion Crawford.

Congratulations for choosing to bat on an education wicket.

Please, please do not be disheartened by the quality of the support being voiced by members on your side. You must continue to look beyond the boundary to scoring sixes only. That way, you need only to face the wiles of the official Opposition.

To turn back now would be to begin scoring singles, exposing yourself to the added dilemma of a possible run-out by the self-serving elements on your own side - the unyielding protectors of the plantation culture.

I can see them all on both sides (Opposition and Government) waiting for you to be unceremoniously stumped or caught at silly mid-on so they can get to have the time of their lives celebrating your demise and ridiculing your audacity to believe that you could change the system.

But not to worry. You have already scored magnificently and are being applauded by many of us in the pavilion, even as we utter a silent prayer for you. You may not get selected for the next game, but you are still young, and there will be others.

And by the way, don't worry about the red-herring accusations of brashness and arrogance. I am sure your party leader is even at this moment preparing to launch a 'youthful exuberance' defence on your behalf.

OLIVE NELSON

olivescottn@hotmail.com

Kingston 20