Tour Diary

The India-Scotland game may have been a non-starter, but there was no shortage of enthusiasm or colour at Kingsmead. A group of about 150 to 200 employees from Nokia in India had come along on a three-day, all-expenses paid trip. It was a pretty grand affair too – they’d been put up at the Hilton, overlooking the cricket ground.

The drizzle was incessant, but so were the antics that this group was up to. The Indian flag wasn’t in short supply, and every time the rains eased even slightly, huge cheers went up in the anticipation of the covers being removed. That it didn’t happen didn’t worry them either – there were other avenues to explore.

England were going through their pre-match routines, having throw downs, catching practice and the like before facing Zimbabwe. Suddenly, they stopped and huddled around a figure lying, clearly in pain, on the outfield. It was serious enough, too, for the England medical team to signal for a stretcher.

Binoculars were quickly called into action to try and identify the injured party; which player it was? What impact on England's plans? Slowly each name was ticked off, then the answer arrived. Andy Flower, the batting coach, who had divided loyalties on the day, was the unfortunate person to go down and it was later confirmed as a serious calf strain. His adopted team will have eased the pain with their 50-run win, unless he was supporting Zimbabwe.

***

With the match between Australia and Zimbabwe not starting until 6 pm, it seemed a good chance to get to the ground early and take a look at conditions. There has been plenty of concern about whether Newlands will be up to staging its portion of the Twenty20 matches and it's probably fair to say the centre square has looked better.

The three pitches that have been cut each have a mottled appearance and the strips either side are bare, which will make for some painful diving from the close fielders. The outfield has had to soak up a huge amount of water in recent months, and one corner takes the brunt as a run-off area. Areas of turf have been relayed, but it isn't quite the gleaming carpet produced at the Wanderers.

But regardless of everything, the saving grace of Newlands every time is the location. With the mountain in the background it is a readymade postcard and a tournament in South Africa wouldn't have been complete without matches here.

Technology has made such rapid strides that it’s difficult to imagine there was a time when, leave alone seeing live pictures of cricket matches, even getting live audio commentary was a struggle. During New Zealand’s tour to South Africa in 1953-54, it was decided that each of the five Test matches should have audio commentary reaching out to the cricket fans in New Zealand. The thought was excellent, but implementation was an issue: just a day before the first Test, SABC, the local broadcaster, realised the signals reaching New Zealand weren’t audible.

Enter Dennis Done, who is nearly 80 now but is still on the job, following the ICC World Twenty20 for SAPA. Back then he was with SABC, and upon him fell the task of implementing an innovative idea. The task, though, was humungous: it needed someone to write out the action which took place every ball, and then telex the information over to New Zealand, where it would then be read out as audio commentary.

Gareth Grey and Nicholas Schilperoort are huge Twenty20 fans and there was no way they would miss the first day of the tournament. They were there well before time - and in special attire - to cheer their team, and their early reactions to the spectacle indicated that the ICC might have plenty of reason to pat themselves on the back.

Both of them agreed that this tournament had everything going for it. “It’s so colourful, it’s so much fun and the scale is much bigger than the domestic competition.” And it’s not that expensive either – Grey and Schilperoort had to shell out just R 100 per ticket, not a lot more than they would have paid for the domestic version. And they believed the pricing was justified too: the ticket gave them access to the opening ceremony too.

Flying out of Johannesburg this morning, the pilot announced smooth conditions all the way to Cape Town. Half-an-hour before landing he said there was a cold-front moving in and by the time we landed he warned us "it's not particularly nice out there, the wind is gusting to 45kph so hold on to your hats." The weather changes swiftly in these parts.

The last thing the ICC World Twenty20 needs is any intervention from the elements, although having said that any wash-outs are decided with a bowl-out, a nightmare for professional cricketers. But while staging matches in Johannesburg and Durban is a fairly safe bet at this time of year, Cape Town is a different matter.

If it's Twenty20, it has to be about music and dance. That's exactly what hit us the moment we entered the Wanderers early in the afternoon. The occasion: preparation for a brief opening ceremony on Tuesday. It's only likely to last about 15 minutes, but music and dance will be as integral to the game as bat and ball - there'll be cheerleaders to celebrate each four, six and wicket, while more music will accompany each batsman to the crease. It promises to be fun.

* *

We touched down in South Africa last week not fully knowing what to expect. We have a new coaching and management team, a slightly different team and a new format of the game to experience. Unlike some teams, we have hardly played any Twenty20 cricket at all. All we know is that the pace can be frenetic, the crowds love it and it’s all over in just three hours.

Since arriving, the media has been clamouring for predictions and insights into how the new tournament will pan out. However, all we know is that the best way for us to succeed is to learn fast and quickly adapt ourselves to the new format. We have to learn on our feet and work out for ourselves the best tactics and approaches for our team.

The South African public is glued to the World Cup. You only have to be in the country a matter of hours to hear the chatter and expectation. But while the host nation kicks off the ICC World Twenty20 against West Indies tomorrow, the tournament everyone is already talking about involves an oval ball and is taking place thousands of miles away in France.

Rugby is still the sport in South Africa and, although the World Cup is running parallel the Twenty20, it won't be a contest over which will draw most attention. The cricket will be done and dusted by the time events in Europe really get interesting, but the clash between the Springboks and England on Friday is whipping up a frenzy in these parts.

"Your boys played well," grinned the man holding my name-board at the airport, with a clear smirk on his face in reference to England's 28-10 win over USA, which was anything but inspiring. Then, in a master of understatement, said: "It's a big one on Friday."

When Jonny Wilkinson kicked England to victory at Sydney four years ago the cricket team was in Sri Lanka. The time difference meant they weren't playing and the squad huddled around a TV in their hotel and roared every kick. This time they will have a prior engagement to deal with first, against none other than their fiercest rivals.

Call it the proverbial lull before the storm, but there's absolutely nothing happening at the Wanderers just two days before the start of the first ICC World Twenty20. That isn't entirely true, of course, for there are a lot of last-minute touch-ups in progress, but at first glance what catches the eye is just how quiet the place is. "It's a Sunday, a holiday, so no tickets are being sold today," says a guard at the gate. So what if that Sunday happens to be only 48 hours before kick-off.

The ground is in faultless condition, though. The outfield looks beautiful, and a walk around the field proves it is even better than it looks. That only means, of course, that India's glaring inadequacies will be exposed even further. Unless the infusion of new blood and the exclusion of some less agile fielders translates into a perceptible difference on the field. Or is that perhaps hoping for too much?