Better late than never

A quick phone call to the British High Commission rectified the situation and to pass the time, a card school was set up.

Some players read, some slept or just chatted and the coffee shop did a roaring trade!

All this coincided with Caroline Atkins' 21st birthday, and the highlight of our day in Delhi airport was Miss Atkins standing on a chair, wearing a bikini over her tracksuit, singing "Happy Birthday" to herself.

When we finall reached Lucknow, the reception surpassed anything we had seen previously.

Garlands, bindi (dot on the forehead), and a reception committee of hundreds - all of whom had been there since 11.00am, a nine-hour wait.

Record stand

The Hotel Gomti had no hot water, and was suffering from power cuts and varied insect life but the staff were very friendly.

With no opportunity for net practice we had a night's sleep and went straight into the Test match the following day - a marked contrast to the Indian team, who had been in Lucknow for three days.

The K.D. Singh Babu Stadium had been given a facelift especially for our game and an ideal batting track was promised, so a quick prayer was said for a successful toss.

Our prayers were answered and we batted first. Atkins and Arran Thompson were instructed to enjoy some time in the middle and get some confidence back after the disappointments of the one-dayers.

They duly obliged by occupying the crease all day to reach 150-0.

We were guests of the local Montessori School that evening for a demonstration of regional dances - Laura Spragg did her bit for international relations by joining in.

Jane Cassar: Time on her hands

On the second day the plan was to bat a little more aggressively and reach 300 plus by tea and put them in.

Atkins and Thompson took their partnership to 200 - a new world record for the first wicket before Atkins perished, run out for 90.

Jane Cassar had been padded up for seven and a half hours at number 3 and a first ball duck was cruel to say the least.

Captain Clare Connor upped the scoring rate with a rapid 40, and a not so pretty but effective 27 from myself took us to a total fo 314.

Most of the third day was lost to rain, despite some remarkable efforts with sponges and buckets by the groundstaff.

The only result could be a draw, but we enjoyed a psychological victory by preventing the Indians surpassing our score on the final day despite a belligerent 110 from Hemlata Kala, who was dropped on 14.

The presentations after the game showed the disparities in the Indian way of life.

Two televisions were handed out as player of the match awards, every player received a trophy and the team purse was 200,000 rupees (about �2,900) - such decadence in a largely impoverished society.

The sponsors of the match, Sahara industries, also invited us to their headquarters for a reception and the wealth on display there was remarkable - a cross between a movie set and Michael Jackson's Never Never Land.