Anyone for bowls?

I was intrigued to find out just who would be watching the early stages of the women's triples and the men's pairs. The answer: a large number of volunteers (presumably the ones who didn't abscond with their brand new kit just before the Games began); relatives and teammates of the players; and a few curious spectators including Yanup - who had asked his Dad to take him along because he had heard it was an interesting game.

The sun sets at 2010 Commonweath Games lawn bowls venue

Yanup is now a fan. He plans to buy himself a set of bowls and spread the gospel to his friends. He was a delight to talk to: an eloquent boy who's making the most of a break from school to see as much of the Commonwealth Games as possible. He hopes to take in the athletics and the gymnastics and had just bought a ticket to see his hero - India's world number three badminton player Saina Nehwal - on October 13th.

The bowling rinks were packed with players. As I arrived, South Africa were taking on Swaziland, Northern Ireland were up against the Cook Islands, and Botswana were taking on Australia. Controversially, they are not playing on grass, but on carpet, which is slower and expected to favour the British and Asian bowlers at the expense of those from Australasia.

I sidled up to Samantha - she was sitting next to me, but it seemed rude to shout from 10 metres away - and discovered that she was Australia's official reserve. This means she has to sit and watch bowls for 13 hours just in case one of her team mates succumbs to Delhi Belly. She was watching her country record an easy victory over Botswana while holding a green and gold pom-pom between green and gold painted fingernails.

As we finished our conversation, the peace was shattered by shouts of "Hurry, Gary, hurry," as a bowler from Northern Ireland urged Gary's bowl, rather than Gary himself, nearer the jack. I then saw members of the Australia squad donning ice jackets to prepare themselves for their next match with Scotland, and one of the officials told me that some players had been dunking their bowls in ice to keep them at the perfect playing temperature.

And all this for just 50 rupees - about one US dollar - in a forgotten corner of Delhi in the shadow of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium.