Just two weeks after the final, wet, miserable day of the third men's Test in Bangalore I've hopped back on the international cricket bandwagon and joined England's women cricketers on their tour of India.

The first one-day international in Madras may have been another cricket match between England and India but the atmosphere could not have been more different from those I'd just.

For the 24th consecutive day's cricket the siren blared to ensure I got a thorough frisking from the police officer

I was slightly disappointed to find that, because of preparation for the men's one-day international on 25 January, the first women's match was not to be held at the Madras' Test ground.

Instead it was at the ICL-Guru Nanak College Ground on the edge of the city.

Truth be told it was purely a selfish thought as I'd managed to get a cheap room in a guest-house an Alan Mullally overthrow from the ground.

And after countless nights onboard overnight trains I fancied a bit of a lie-in before play commenced at 9.30am!

Instead, after some initial early Sunday morning confusion with an auto-rickshaw driver who took me to four of Chennai's ten first-class cricket grounds, I found myself wandering into the venue at a little after 9am.

And the reception couldn't have been more different to those encountered at the grounds when watching England's men play.

Networking

Admittedly, the omnipresent metal-detector was still there and for the 24th consecutive day's cricket the siren blared as I walked through to ensure I got a thorough frisking from the police officer on duty.

But once inside it was a million miles away from the security-before-all-else atmosphere that had blighted the men's warm-up games at Bombay, Hyderabad and Jaipur in particular.

There was a different atmosphere at the women's international

With the security taking a polite, yet observant cheap seat, it was great to get back to chatting people around the ground, enjoying numerous cups of hot and incredibly sweet chai as the murky morning gave way to a gorgeous Sunday.

The whole scene was enhanced by various members of Madras's upper class enjoying the opportunity to mingle, be seen and bask in the collective glory of their sides comprehensive eight-wicket win.

Mobile phones bleeped continuously throughout the day as seemingly vital business was conducted around the boundary's edge, interrupting the obvious networking taking place at the game.

My disappointment at seeing the England side make a losing start to the series was tempered somewhat by the benefits of the game finishing well ahead of schedule.

With many of guests leaving before tea was served I was - and there is no better way to describe it - let loose in the guests enclosure.

And I gorged myself on tomato and cucumber sandwiches, cookies and just under three-and-a-half gallons of hot, sweet, milky chai.

Well, when you're travelling on a budget you can't ignore these free feeds!

Serious business

With the sun beating down and the temperature nudging 30 degrees Celcius I took the opportunity to jump off the bus at Marina Beach - a seemingly never-ending stretch of sand and reputedly the second longest town beach in the world.

For the entire three mile stretch that I wandered along in the late Sunday afternoon sun, cricket matches were being played by countless hundreds.

Another run goes in the scorer's book

And these were no ordinary knock-around games either.

The majority had two distinct sides, with the batting side, waiting patiently on the beach, as well as an umpire and even, on a couple of occasions, scorers making a note of every run, bye and no-ball.

The umpires themselves took no prisoners either with cries of 'no-ball' and 'wide' punctuating the sound of the waves crashing ashore.

It was a wonderful experience and, if anyone could have any doubt as to the Indian passion for cricket, this eye-catching spectacle certainly proved the future of the great game is in very safe hands over here.