On transparency, jetlag and meat pies

Nathan Bracken: why was he dropped? There's no need to speculate © Getty Images

More than an hour before the match begins, Jonathan Rose, the young media manager of Cricket Australia, is standing by the lift. He hands over a media release announcing the Australian team. There is one contentious selection there: Nathan Bracken, who has dismissed Virender Sehwag five times out of five in the matches they have played against each other, and who took two quick wickets in his opening spell in India's second innings at Brisbane, is out, to make room for Brad Williams. Andy Bichel, who had figures of 1 for 142 in the Brisbane Test, keeps his place.

But before questions can be asked, the selection has already been explained. The release has extensive quotes from Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors. You might still argue with the rationale, but it leaves little room for conjecture. There is a lesson in this for the Indian cricket establishment, which is so fond of damning speculative journalism: the best way to prevent speculation is to provide information. The man who used to be India's media manager now sits on the opposite side in press conferences, because the Indian cricket board reckons the team manager can do the job. Ten days into the tour, it has been a disaster.

* * * * * Murali Kartik arrived at Adelaide airport last night to a reception party consisting exclusively of Australians. There was the team's local liaison officer. And the Australian media. Poor Kartik, who had been given to believe that his arrival in Australia was a national secret, and who was oblivious to media reports, having spent the last 14 hours flying, was obviously nonplussed. He arrived at the team hotel looking bright-eyed and cheerful, and was met by more reporters, but not a soul from the team management. "I am ready to play," he said. Would he have been too jet-lagged to be have been picked? "You are kidding," says Ravi Shastri. "He would have been fine." Shastri knows: 22 years ago, he arrived in New Zealand at 10.30pm in near-freezing conditions, and played in a Test match the next day. * * * * * Shane Warne and his mobile phone are inseparable. Today he's been calling up David Hookes, the coach of his home state, Victoria, to follow the scores of the Pura Cup match. Victoria are playing New South Wales, captained by Mark Waugh ("they'll have to wheelchair him out of ground," a joke goes out in the media box), and Warne is keen to keep abreast. He is due to play his first Shield match in February, and though he looks in great shape, he admits that he hasn't bowled a ball yet. "Not even a cherry, mate."

Terry Jenner, the former Australian Test legspinner, and Warne's coach, is here doing commentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He's been planning to take Warne out for a bowl shortly - "Could even be tomorrow" - and he spirits Warne away for a chat on the balcony. Watch this space for more.

* * * * * After keeping everyone waiting at Brisbane, Wasim Akram is finally here to take his seat behind the microphone in the ESPN-Star box. He is instantly besieged by the Indian media, who want to talk left-arm fast bowling with him. But Akram's immediate worry is the lunch - which, unlike the sit-down buffet that is customary in most Australian grounds, is limited to sandwiches, pies and sliced cakes here. "At this rate, I will have to turn vegetarian," he says. "After all, how many meat pies can you eat?"

Over a chat on the balcony, I ask him about Irfan Pathan Khan. "He looks good," Akram says, "but he is young, give him a few years. Irfan, of course, has wasted no time in seeking advice from Akram, who might have been India's bowling coach had not a move to get him appointed met with collective hysteria in both India and Pakistan. "The advice I gave him was not to read newspapers for the next few years," Akram says. "I never made the mistake of doing that in my early years. What I did was a lot of talking. Talking to every fast bowler I could catch hold of. If you want to learn, you have to go and seek it - nobody will come forward and offer it."

For obvious reasons, he doesn't want to talk about the coaching assignment that wasn't to be. Ask him about the lawsuit against him in Pakistan, and he responds with a resigned smile and a shrug of the shoulders. "I have sued him back," he says ...

Sambit Bal, the editor of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine and Wisden Cricinfo in India, will be following the Indian team throughout this Test series.

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