You're not going to win

When you take a big wicket or score a big century, you are not alone because the country celebrates with you. When you fail, when you mess it all up and, say, get drunk on tour and need to be rescued from a pedalo, the country jumps on you. That's the deal: those who are up to it are paid handsomely, and quite right, too. It follows, then, that an England cricketer is not morally entitled to think like a private person. Like me, for example, or you. An England cricketer can't duck out of a tour like a tourist. He has to think bigger than that. That's the job he signed on for. We pay an athlete to inspire us. Flintoff batting in the Ashes series of 2005, Flintoff taking Australia wickets and inflating his chest like a Lilo, Flintoff consoling Brett Lee in England's victory; these things matter to us. They are the sort of things a great athlete does, and at such times we know they are worth every penny of the money they receive.

England will stay in the Fortune ­Landmark, a 20-minute drive from the stadium which is made quicker when you represent Team England and rush-hour traffic is being cleared by armed police escorts with blaring horns. Behind the duty manager's desk at the hotel today lay a fresh consignment of CCTV cameras, not yet unpacked. While Neerah Gewali, the assistant manager, explained how ­England would be protected, an Ahmedabad crime prevention unit arrived at the front desk to issue new instructions for all.