NOW THAT outspoken West Indies cricket captain Christopher Gayle has said it, we cannot go on ignoring the fact that Test cricket may soon be as extinct as dinosaurs. Recently, I have been viewing Test matches as a set of individuals engaged in a 40-hour, five-day workweek requiring other individuals to abandon their jobs to watch them do theirs. It is not sustainable; especially with the onset of the more exciting Twenty20 version of the game. I would like to propose, too, that in the shortened versions, batsmen's scores should not be bolstered by 'free hits', but these should be accumulated under extras as 'byes' or a new category aptly named 'free hits'.

Holding back the game

I would like to suggest that we look at the way some other games are played. I think the offside rule in soccer despite numerous adjust-ments/amend-ments is holding back the game. Too often during the run of play, referees get it wrong and teams have to live with the consequences. It is just not feasible for linesmen and referees to accurately track players to look for all manner of infringements, while at the same time accurately spot a player being offside consistently every single time.

I hope meaningful, objective debate will start and the merits of these proposals be seriously contem-plated and Jamaica can lead the charge in having these accepted in practice.

I am, etc.,

R.A. THOMAS

roathoms@yahoo.co.uk