Ready for every turn

Since South Africa’s tour to India followed their trip to Pakistan and Bangladesh, Vincent Barnes has a ‘been there, seen it and done it too’ expression on his face as he takes a look at the Green Park track. He speaks about the pitch in Dhaka during the Bangladesh tour and how his team’s fear proved unfounded. “We first thought the pitch was certain to break in the first couple of days. It actually lasted for five. The same thing happened in Chittagong as well,” he says, highlighting how modern-day tourists to the subcontinent aren’t that fussy about the dust bowls they encounter.

Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, who had made it out to the middle a little before his team, was not particularly impressed by what he saw and actually had a chat to [Graeme] Smith, asking him to take a deep breath and relax, warning him not to be too perturbed by what he saw.