Postcard from Singapore: Nic Pothas

Arriving in Singapore after flying 30 hours across the world from Barbados via London is definitely first prize for me.

I had prepared myself for paradise island in the West Indies but once I got the call from Oz saying that I was needed to replace Mark in Singapore who had cut his fingers, my focus and priorities had suddenly changed; from paradise island to paradise shopping. I suppose most people's priorities in my position would have changed!

The national team is on a bit of a high at the moment coming off the win against the Aussies in Melbourne, much against the odds. It seemed that the key injuries to Jonty and Mark gelled the team together and hopefully we can carry this through on this last leg.

Singapore is a great place to play a one-day cricket tournament. The buzz that exists in this Island nation comes from the rich financial sector, the ever-working local Singaporeans and the thrill of shopping and this all adds to the ambience of playing cricket here.

The weather is hot and humid and that is to be expected as we are currently sitting just about dead on the equator.

We are playing all of the matches at the Kallang Cricket ground which is not the preferred venue, so I'm told. The tournament has been played before at the Singapore Cricket Club's ground in the heart of the city but this year the 35th Singapore National Day Celebrations prevented that.

Last night we were invited to eat at the Singapore Cricket Club and I can see why Singapore as a venue is enjoyed by cricketers the world over, just like the sixes tournament that is held in Hong Kong.

There is a certain type of ambience or mystery playing matches in and around the sky-scrapers of such a developed city. What a ground like Singapore CC lacks in stature from high grandstands is definitely made up for by the surrounding architecture of the modern sky-scraper.

My first match went off fairly well and I was happy with my performance. I took a nice catch off Jacques' bowling and topped this off with a stumping of Nicky Boje as well and this will add to the confidence I want to build on for the remaining two matches.

As a team, I think we under performed in the first match against Pakistan. The hot and humid weather conditions certainly had an affect on the guys coming from the cold climate of Melbourne and also having to play 2 days after landing here.

You can also see that the guys are pretty tired from all their travelling and touring in Sri Lanka and Melbourne and hopefully we can make Sunday's final, win it and leave for home with a victory to end off the tour.

As for me, I'm not coming back to SA just yet. I'm heading straight back to the West Indies via London again to pick up with the "A" team guys from where I left off. Mark Bruyns is keeping wicket while I am here and I'm looking forward to joining Benky's team again and also helping make the "A" tour a successful trip too.

This is Nick Pothas signing off for CricInfo from Singapore.