Cricket players and their superstitions are a subject often talked about when the man in the street asks me questions about the game. These superstitions or routines range from a certain brand of chewing gum, a number on the scoreboard, which pad you strap on first to the more complex superstitions possessed by different members of the team.

Steve Waugh, while probably never claiming to be a superstitious person, is a classic example of a player who has a few interesting tendencies or theories. He makes me laugh with his version of positive thinking. Moreover, it is this thinking that obviously helps get him into the right frame of mind for his incredibly consistent batting career. Besides his red cloth that he wears in his pocket every time he bats, I have been with him when a few life incidents have occurred, that he assured me where 'a sign' from up above.

"We were admiring the lion's cage when one of these Kings of the Jungle, turned and sprayed urine all over Steve Waugh's leg. Fits of laughter once again prevailed, and that wry smile turned straight to me and announced another test century was close by"

During the 1999 tour of Zimbabwe, the team visited a safari park and wildlife sanctuary in Bulawayo. One of the major attractions was the King of the Jungle, who strutted up and down a massive caged enclosure staring down at its fascinated onlookers. Seeing this magnificent specimen up close was a marvelous experience for all of us. Even more entertaining was the reaction of this mighty lion who roared, strutted, clawed, stared and finally turned his back to us and sent a torrent of urine all over our illustrious captain. As we fell to the ground laughing at the fate incurred by our skipper, our urine-drenched captain looked straight at me with a strange smile and said 'that's a good sign, I will get a hundred now, just watch.' Sure enough, history will confirm another Steve Waugh test century.

During our last visit to the West Indies, Tugga and I were walking back to the hotel from a beachside restaurant. Through the sky, from one side of the horizon to the other, flew one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Later we found out it was a meteorite shower that lit up the sky like an enormous firework display. Again, Tugga's reaction to this natural phenomenon was that it was a good luck sign for big runs to come. Yet again, he was right as he scored an incredible century at Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Incredibly, the day before the last test match in Calcutta a group of us visited the Calcutta zoo, which is located just across the road from our hotel. Like in Bulawayo, we were admiring the lion's cage when one of these Kings of the Jungle, turned and sprayed urine all over Steve Waugh's leg. Fits of laughter once again prevailed, and that wry smile turned straight to me and announced another test century was close by. We all know about Stephen's second test century against the odds. He is sure it is time to start bottling 'lions wee' and selling it as a good luck spray.

At the other end of the scale, a conversation during the practise game before the Calcutta test has Adam Gilchrist shaking his head in disbelief. For some reason a few of us were talking about scoring ducks. At one stage of the chat, I asked 'Gilly' if he had ever scored a pair of ducks in a game of cricket. At the time, he was very cagey in his answer saying that he thought he might have fallen before for the illustrious 'pair'. Knowing he had never actually gone for two ducks in the game, he just wanted to ignore my question so as not to tempt fate. You wouldn't believe after his magnificent first test century that our talented wicket keeper could face only two balls for the whole match. Never again will he tempt fate, as we have decided to watch what we talk about during times of idle chit-chat.

Arriving in Chennai two days ago, the first thing to strike us was the sticky heat and humidity. Up until now, the climate has been fantastic in every city that we have visited. After a day off yesterday, it was off to a steady, pre-test practice session this morning. Because we had arrived at 10pm on Thursday night, it probably didn't hit us until today how hot and humid Chennai really is. This important third test match is likely to test both team's stamina and fitness as much as sheer skill. Only two days between test matches is never ideal, but in the end of the day, the preparation time is the same for both teams.

We are expecting a very challenging encounter on a Chennai pitch likely to take sharp turn. Without knowing for certain, I would be surprised if we didn't go into the match with our two spinners, 'Warney' and Colin Miller. Our off-spinner will be looking forward to playing this test match and continuing his outstanding form of the last two seasons. Even without his blue hair, 'Funky' will be a handful for the Indian batsmen who wouldn't have seen much of his bowling style in the past. We came to India specifically to win this series so we are all looking forward to another great game of test cricket.

From Chennai

JL

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