A meeting with Sonia Gandhi

Charlotte talks tactics with Richard Bates © ECB

Sunday, November 20

Another early start for us as we had a nine o'clock training session - or so we thought! After waiting for over an hour for our bus, we had literally just sat down when we were informed we had under an hour to get ourselves into our Number Ones, because we had been invited by Sonia Gandhi to her residence in Delhi. After a 45-minute journey, we arrived and were ushered through a number of security checks before being led to her garden. We got ourselves into a position for a photograph and I was given a bunch of flowers to give to her. She arrived moments later and I introduced her to the team. We had a quick photo with her and then joined the Indian squad for another photo. Although brief, it was a momentous occasion and we are very privileged to have met her.

We then went straight to our practice and trained for two hours in preparation for the match starting the following day.

I woke up early with a few butterflies because today was my first Test as captain. I was hoping to win the toss as it was a very good pitch, but "tails never fails" failed again - I may have to rethink this theory! We found ourselves fielding after Mithali [Raj] chose to bat.

We started well with Nunny [Katherine Brunt] and Jen [Gunn] bowling tightly. We made a few crucial errors in the field, dropping Raj on 17, who went on to make 78; she's the backbone of their batting attack. We were pleased with our first day closing with the Indians on 241 for 5.

Another quiet night in the hotel gave us the opportunity to catch up on the men's Test.

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed considering we'd spent a whole day in the field the previous day. We couldn't have asked for a better start to the day as Nunny took an early wicket and Laura Harper claimed her first five-wicket haul for England. We bowled them all out for 289 which was a great effort. We were confident as we headed back on to the field to bat as it had proved a good batting track.

But a fine bowling performance from Jhulan Goswami had us reeling at 61 for 6. We finished the day on 103 for 7 needing 37 to avoid the follow-on. Another quiet night with dreams focussing on the number 37! But more importantly than that we had some crushing news for Katherine [Brunt]. X-rays showed that she had a spiral fracture to the fifth metacarpal bone in her left hand and that proved to be the end of her tour.

The news of Katherine was a massive blow to the whole squad. She's a fantastic personality and has been a top performer for us over the past year, so she's going to be sorely missed. There were some tearful goodbyes before we left for the ground, but we knew we had a tough task ahead and so attention had to focus on that, which it did.

Beth [Morgan] and Jane [Smit] put on an exceptional batting performance to see us past the follow-on, which proved to be a turning point in the game. We finished our first innings on 154. We then took to the field where the Indians declared on 175 for 4, leaving us with a target of 311 to win. It was a very sporting declaration and one we thought we were capable of achieving. The only downside of the day was having to bat for just four overs - sometimes I wonder why the hell I open the batting!

A night in trying to sort out our washing which had got mixed up with the Indians and making lists of all our lost items!

I woke up quite nervous again as it was going to be an exciting day of Test cricket. Laura [Newton] and I got off to a great start putting on a partnership of 42 quite quickly. A couple of decisions that didn't go our way left us on 110 for 3 at lunch, but we were up with the run-rate and we felt confident we could achieve the total. But after losing Arran (Brindle) to a run-out, our hopes dwindled and with only ten batsmen we knew we had to consolidate and not lose the game having worked so hard to get back into it. A great partnership from Rosalie [Birch] and Laura [Harper] saw us home and we finished on 210 for 6. Match drawn.

After a lengthy presentation and interviews we headed back to the hotel. Some members of the squad headed to a function, while others held a "cricket" party consisting of tea, chocolate and international cricket. A couple of the girls had celebratory shandies, but I held back due to my tea-total policy on tour. I'm already looking forward to the last night!

After a lazy morning by the pool - our first chance for a proper sunbathe - we headed to a children's village in the afternoon, taking plenty of kit and energy with us ready for a mini game of cricket.

We arrived at the Delhi SOS Children's Village, the first of its kind in India. SOS provide a new family for destitute children and create a whole new life for them. We were greeted by lots of smiling faces and presented with hand-made cards and messages of luck and love. We were given a talk on the work of SOS and then we were taken to the kindergarten which is based in the purpose-built village.

After being shown around the children's homes, we played a five-over game against their cricket team - SOS Greenfields. This was the highlight of our visit as the whole village came to watch and enjoyed the game, which we lost by five runs!

This was an amazing experience for us all. The kids are genuinely happy and it was great to bring a little extra sparkle to their lives.

We left to chants of "Barmy Army" and a subdued bus journey back as we all realised just how lucky we really are.

We spent the evening packing as we head to a new hotel tomorrow.

As a rare treat on this tour, we had a lie-in this morning, getting up at 8.30am! After breakfast the management team set off on a bus with all our luggage to the new hotel promising to return an hour later to pick us up. Ten minutes later, two of the management returned. Our next hotel was a stone's throw away over the other side of the road! Slightly less than the hour scheduled on our original itinerary!

We decided to walk the distance and arrived at the most palatial hotel so far. I am currently sitting on my balcony looking out over the three swimming pools and manicured lawns. This afternoon we head to the stadium to train in preparation for the first ODI tomorrow, which we're all very excited about and ready and raring to go!