Sir, – Finn McRedmond says the appointment of former England cricketer Ian Botham as Britain’s trade envoy to Australia was a low point in Britain’s slide to irrelevance (“Zelenskiy has not written off Britain and neither should we”, Opinion & Analysis, February 16th).
In the London Times, Alexander Downer (former Australian foreign minister and high commissioner to the UK) observed, “He’s a cricketing great and Australians love a sports star. It won’t be hard for him to encourage Aussies to turn to Scotch whisky to help them through never-ending lockdowns.”
As one of the greatest all-rounders of all time and a prodigious fundraiser for charitable causes, Lord Botham was an inspired choice to sell a little cheer Down Under. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
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Gaoth Dobhair,
Co Dhún na nGall.