Postcard from Singapore: Jacques Kallis - Credit Card Pounding

The atmosphere in the indoor stadium in Melbourne was definitely very different compared to our last match played in Sri Lanka at the SSC ground.

The reasons being; there were probably a couple more thousand people in the stadium, the roof overhead holds the noise and vibe really well which adds to the atmosphere, the crowd are very close to the field and of course, the novelty of being involved in the very first indoor one-dayer had everyone pretty hyped up.

I was very impressed with the way the wicket played, having been prepared in a green house 100 miles away and transported and dropped in only 3 days before the first match. Way to go!

It did get a little more difficult to play on as the games progressed but generally it played very well.

I think the fact that the outfield was so wet and damp was not great although by the last game, it had dried out a lot and was easier to run around on.

Neil McKenzie definitely agrees with the fact that the outfield was not totally up to standard, mis-judging his dive in the outfield.

After the first game he declared that he was giving up cricket for a career in male sports stripping. Well he ain't giving up cricket totally; he's just gonna focus his stripping activities on sporting occasions starting with the game of cricket and he's got off to a pretty good start already with his diving performance in the first match and showing off his derriere.

Normally in situations where a stripper invades the field and runs around the players showing of his or her vital parts, they get hauled off the field by the security men (rather reluctantly).

Therefore, us guys on the field at the time feared for Neil's continuation in the game after thinking that the security guards may have mistaken him for a stripper from the crowd. Fortunately, the Aussie guards are quite perceptive and they realized he was actually a player.

Going from zero degrees to around 40 is what it felt like after arriving and playing in Singapore. Now I kinda know how a lobster feels to be yanked out of the cold seawater and put straight into the boiling pot. At least the lobster provides a healthy meal for some hungry restaurant patron.

Most of the wives and girlfriends are still with us and the boys' credit cards are taking a pounding. We'll have to definitely win this one to pay off all the extra shopping we've been doing.

I'm really looking forward to getting home after living out of a suitcase for the last 2 months. My plans are to chase a little white dimpled ball around as much as possible, hopefully playing very few shots.

It will be important to hone my game as we have a Ryder Cup-like tournament to prepare for in Jo'burg in September where some of the SA Cricket players are taking on the SA Rugby players. I'm a bit worried about some of the rugby players' handicaps and the fact that they get more time to play, but I'm sure the likes of Polly, myself, Lance, Boeta and Gary will do SA cricket proud on the golf course.

I also plan to re-familiarize myself with some of my favourite CT watering holes, like La Med, The Other Place and the Green Man.

This is the Jacques Kallis signing off until another time for CricInfo.