Hot, noisy and daunting but all part of my Indian experience

9:37am Thursday 19th January 2006

In a two-part series, High Wycombe's ISA GUHA writes about her tour with the England Women's cricket team in the country her parents came from.

Playing in Sri Lanka and India was an experience to say the least.

The tour began in Sri Lanka where we acclimatised well to the heat and humidity. We also received a good insight into their way of life which gave us a taste of things to come in India. Things like the rules of driving the fact that there are none!

We played two ODIs One-Day internationals and came out on top on both occasions. Sri Lanka are a weaker side than India but are very much an improving side.

We then travelled to Delhi where we were welcomed by garlands of flowers and marks on our foreheads (shidoor).

This sort of attention was something we're not used to in England but it is something we would come to expect everywhere we went. As well as armed officers travelling with us at all times, people bent over backwards to make sure we had everything we needed.

The practice games in Meerut caused quite a stir with 10,000 people turning up. We just looked around and couldn't believe that so many people would turn up just for a practice game!

I was personally extra nervous because it was my first game playing in India and, even though I am from England, I didn't want to disappoint the crowd.

However, they were surprisingly supportive and it gave me great confidence going into the remaining games.

I did not play in the Test in Delhi but the girls fought really well and were looking to win right up until lunch on the last day where we showed a lot of character to bat out the day and play for a draw. It was a shock to learn that our opening bowler, Katherine Brunt, had to be sent home due to a fracture in her left hand after fielding a ball awkwardly.

Throughout the tour it was hard to venture out into the streets as we always needed security or sometimes there just wasn't anything to see so we had to think of ways to entertain ourselves.

For example for Cheesy's Rosalie Birch birthday, we had a Bollywood party where we all bought saris and the hotel staff and some of the Indian team helped us put them on!

We hired a sound system and tried to mimic Indian style dance moves with bhangra music blazing in the background. As it was wedding season we had to deal with massive parties with music blaring until 2am and waking up at 5am to chanting but it was all part of the Indian experience.

Also, we were all incredibly careful with our hygiene but everyone still managed to get ill at some stage apart from me and Jane, the wicketkeeper.

We started the ODI series well, winning the first game on a slow and low track and should have won the next game but it was not to be.

The tour was starting to take its toll by the third game where we only had eight fit players due to illness. To add insult to injury we had to send our opening bat, Laura Newton, home due to a fractured finger.

The fourth game at Silchar drew the biggest crowd of 22,000 so it was an incredible shame when the game was over by 1pm. It proved to be a crucial toss to lose and India, fielding first with their strike bowler Jhulan Goswami in very good form, was always going to be a struggle.

So with the series lost, going into the fifth game we were playing for pride and it was a bit more special to me as we were playing at Eden Gardens, Calcutta.

It's somewhere I have wanted to play since I got into the England side because Calcutta is where my parents are from and it is one of the best grounds in the world.

The day before I had a press conference with Richard Bates, the coach and Charlotte Edwards, the captain.

There was a crowd of reporters all reaching in with their microphones, fighting to get to the front, which was a daunting experience.

Nonetheless after the interview we walked out onto the pitch and immediately got goosebumps from of the enormity of the stadium.

It really felt like we were in a bottomless pit. We could only imagine what it would be like if it was filled to the top with peop-le pushing up against the cages that were surrounding the pitch something I've only ever seen on television.

The next day came and I was surprised to see that the stadium wasn't packed by the time we warmed up something we were getting used to on tour. Obviously news hadn't got round quick enough.

All the same we fielded first and I took great pleasure in seeing many of my relatives in the stadium.

It was a pleasant experience and I could only imagine how it would be if the stadium was packed.

Unfortunately we lost again but put up a very good fight chasing and the middle order showed how much depth this England side has got.

Needing nine an over towards the end, I went into bat at 11 but, trying to step on the gas, I got caught at deep mid-on.

A disappointing end but heads remained high and I can guarantee it will be a different story on home soil this summer where conditions will be more in our favour.

It was a bitter disappointment to lose the series in India 4-1 but I know that our team will come back stronger.

Read the next installment in this week's Bucks Free Press