Letter from Dhaka - view from the England camp

The Enforcer: Gareth Batty gears up for his role as the team's new fines collector (c) Getty Images

The viral infection which laid Mark Butcher low ahead of the inaugural Test appears to have spread beyond his larynx. When team physiologist Nigel Stockill was called to Butcher's room to fix a computer glitch, he found a grand total of 415 viruses on the Surrey left-hander's lap-top. After a lengthy session with the instruction manual, Stockill, who together with operations manager, Phil Neale, has been helping the England players get online, commented: "I've told 'Butch' he will have to do 415 sit-ups on his next trip to the gym by way of punishment!"

A rival slow bowling partnership has emerged to challenge the Giles/Batty pairing on this tour. Assistant Coach Mike Watkinson's off-break bowling at net sessions is now being supplemented by the left-arm spin of Richard Nowell, the England team sponsor Vodafone's official tour representative. The 27-year-old Nowell, who enjoyed a spell with Surrey from 1994-1997 and numbers Nasser Hussain among his first-class victims, has lost none of his enthusiasm for the game. "It was good fun and I managed to turn a couple, but there's no way I'd want to bowl 30 overs in this heat. I'm leaving that to the pro's."

Worcestershire off-spinner, Gareth Batty, has been charged with a new role on tour - succeeding the likes of Matthew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison as 'The Enforcer' of the team's tour fines. The cricketing bailiff will be knocking on the players' bedroom doors on a regular basis to collect fines handed down for breaches of the team's self-imposed disciplinary code. A 500 taka (around £5) fine will be levied for all sorts of offences ranging from a mobile phone ringing on the bus to leaving kit behind at practice. All the money collected will be donated to local charities.

A new face on tour is that of team doctor, Mark Ridgewell, a lecturer in sports medicine at University of Wales College of Medicine. Mark, who has worked with the Wales A and Wales Under 21 rugby squads, as well as the Welsh soccer team, is not only taking readings from his thermometer on this tour. Together with physiologist Nigel Stockill he has been monitoring the sweltering heat with a pocket-sized temperature gauge. A lunchtime pitch inspection with the new gadget during England's last three-day game at Savar revealed the mercury had soared to 42 degrees centigrade with an 85 per cent humidity count. But, according to one English pressman, that fell some way short of the temperature reached during the Australia v Pakistan series in Sharjah last year - a staggering 55 degrees C.

Another innovation from the England medical team in Bangladesh has been the use of alcohol-based hand gels which help reduce the risk of players catching stomach viruses - a familiar bug-bear on previous tours of the Asian sub-continent. As the viruses are usually spread by hand-to-mouth contact, cricketers who spend long periods of time in the field are at increased of infection. Dr Ridgewell explained: "Our players' bodies are unfamiliar with the type of bacteria they are exposed to out here. But we are encouraging the players to take simple precautions such as regular hand-washing after every session and so far - touch wood - no-one has reported any stomach problems."

Butcher, Graham Thorpe and Rikki Clarke were all greeted by a familiar face soon after their arrival in Dhaka - the former Surrey physiotherapist Johnny Gloster. The Adelaide-born Gloster spent four seasons at the Oval before taking up his current position as Bangladesh physiotherapist on a full-time basis in August 2001 and has toured South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with his new charges. Gloster, who has been acting as the England team's unofficial tour guide in Dhaka, is enjoying his new role. "The biggest problem I had initially was lack of medical resources and I have had to think on my feet at times and learn to be very resourceful. But the good thing about being here is that the people are very friendly, enthusiastic and passionate about their cricket."

The England players all shook hands with local dignitary Mr Ali Asghar MP, together with the chief executives of both boards, in an official team line-up prior to the singing of the national anthems ahead of the first Test. And they discovered that Mr Asghar is a keen student of 18th century English literature - if his reply on greeting the Somerset pace bowler Richard Johnson is any guide. "Ah Johnson," said Mr Asghar. "Just like the Doctor!"