Sunday February 18, 2000

After a long day in the field, it always feels a little bizarre arriving back to your hotel room and seeing armed security guards sitting outside your bedroom door. It may seem strange to someone who has never visited a country like India but I guess it is a way of life for the people here. Foreign, to us living in Australia, the armed escorts are part of the regime when touring countries like Pakistan and India. While it may sound and look daunting, the guards are hopefully there mainly for show. In the years I have had travelling with the Australian team, we have never had anything but fantastic hospitality and smiling faces for 99% of the time. Even still, it is an eye-opener experiencing different ways of life in the countries we are lucky to visit.

Foreign also are some of the pitches we play on overseas. The pitch here at Nagpur is as flat and hard as a bitumen road with the batting ends as dusty as the middle centre of Australia. Our quick bowler's were scratching their heads with frustration for most of today as the test aspirants VVS Laxman and S Ramesh crashed the worn out leather cricket ball to every part of the ground. The last time I saw a cricket ball so tattered was when I visited the local juniors who practice in cement nets. Marry a flat hard pitch with undoubtedly the fastest outfield I have ever seen and it was hardly surprising the Indian A team batted through the first session without losing a wicket.

From a positive point of view for the good guys,

"The last time I saw a cricket ball so tattered was when I visited the local juniors who practice in cement nets."

the partnership between the elegant left (Ramesh) and right hander (Laxman) gave us an opportunity to have a close look at them before the test match in a week. After lunch, our newfound experience enabled our bowlers to find much better direction that ultimately led to the downfall of both batsmen. On seeing the back of these two player's, thanks to Jason Gillespie, Colin Miller then went about destroying the remainder of the Indian A batting line-up. Our test player of the year bowled superbly on a spinning pitch taking six wickets in his lengthy spell of thirty-two overs.

With eight balls to go tonight our dynamic opening batsman Michael Slater miscued an attempted lofted drive and was out for nine. There are few things worse for a batsman than having to go in and bat with only a few balls remaining in a day's play. Luckily, I was able to see out two deliveries before Matty Hayden faced out the final over from the other end. If nothing else it is surely character building going into bat when you have very little to gain from the time at the crease. My hat goes off to the opening batsmen who have to do it regularly.

Batting on day three of this practice game will be invaluable experience on these types of pitches. Standing in the dust and combating the spinning ball is something we Australian batsmen rarely experience. All of the guys, including yours truly, will be looking to spend as much time as possible adapting our methods before the first test starts in Mumbai on February 27.

From Nagpur

JL

You can also read:

Sunday February 17, 2001: Kaspa or Kimbo?
Sunday February 14, 2001: Getting the run-down
Tuesday February 13, 2001: Pre-tour preparations
Tuesday February 11, 2001: Leaving Home