Chilled by deaths of Mumbai friends

With a rare weekend off, Ricky Ponting says cricket won't be too far from his mind. There is plenty to think about, some good, some not so good. While Ponting has to think about tactics fr the big series against South Africa starting next week, he cannot stop thinking about the tragic events in India recently. Read his column in the Australian.

Whenever you go to an Indian hotel they always have the same staff and it's chilling to think that the people who looked after us so well may have been, in fact almost certainly were, among the dead. It is incredibly sad that something like that has happened in India. It is a country I have really enjoyed touring over the years, even though personally I have never had the best results over there, I think all the players have always enjoyed the place. It's certainly the centre of the cricketing world at the moment, so the attacks are upsetting for the players and for the game as well.