We're here, despite all odds

It seems hard to believe after all the hype at home, the will-they, won't-they pontificating and the repeated inquiries into whether I was going to be here or not, I'm in Chennai looking forward to a day of Test cricket tomorrow. I'm sat with a dozen fellow fans in our hotel bar discussing this Test, this series and many others that have already gone by.

Security at the ground is heavy to say the least. The chances of getting anywhere near the training today was about as realistic as Jimmy Anderson scoring a Test century. But with a focus on tomorrow, we've found an area of the ground to congregate in.

The biggest discussion as I write surrounds what we'll be able to take into the ground. It seems like nearly everything will be confiscated, including cameras and mobile phones. That's not particularly handy if you want to take photos for the Barmy Army website or need your phone to chat to the media. I applied for media accreditation for this tour on behalf of the Barmy Army but we got refused because apparently websites don't count as media. That seems particularly ironic as I've now got my ramblings on Cricinfo as well.

But while that remains a worry there is a buzz about our small group. We're going to watch Test cricket tomorrow. In India. Despite everything that has happened. Despite concerns from home. And the locals seem very happy to have us here, which is always appreciated.

And if you think that cricket is the biggest deal going on here I can only point out that I've just looked up at the television to see the headline ‘War on Pak?’ The situation is much bigger than cricket when you get to the country concerned, and rightly so, but for those of us who have made the pilgrimage tomorrow will be about the sport. And if that takes everyone's mind off the atrocities then it can only be a good thing.