It's lights, camera action for Phil Long

After 24 hours holed up in a sleeper compartment with four of the heaviest snorers in India I was less than enthusiastic at the thought of heading off to see the temples and medieval forts that the area is famed for.

However, before I'd even had a chance to take off my shoes at one of the temples I'd stumbled upon the filming of a Bollywood movie using the dramatic landscape as a backdrop.

Now in India there's nothing particularly unusual about that but it's not very often the leading actor stops the shoot half way through the day's scenes to sit down and talk cricket to a complete stranger!

Not only that but the actor in question, Raja Bundella, also knew all about the women's tour and the predicament of the women's team.

In fact he seemed far more confident than I was that the England team were more suited to the four-day version of the game.

Bizarrely, he was so impressed by my 'dedication' to the England team that he promised me a walk-on role in his next production when I was in Bombay again!

Only in India could I find myself discussing Clare Connor's captaincy skills with a leading Bollywood actor whilst drinking chai (tea) on the roof of a medieval fortress!

Some people have to sit in the cheap seats!

I arrived in Lucknow the morning of the Test and after securing a bed at the obligatory Flea Pit Hotel for Rs60 (90 pence) a night I wandered up to the KS Singh Babu Stadium in search of the game.

Now I'm not quite sure how it happened but as I wandered out to take some photographs of the ground before the game began one of the numerous officials elevated me to the position of media manager of the England Women's cricket team!

Suddenly I was sitting alongside Dr Kashmir Singh (Inspector General of Police, Uttar Pradesh), Lt Col H K Kalra (Retd) and Mr Vijay Dutta (Executive President of Uttar Pradesh's largest brewery) in the VIP Enclosure of the main stand.

Not only was I granted my own private visit to the brewery to 'sample' some of their beers but I was also invited for a round of golf on the only golf course in the world with a tomb on a fairway.

The tomb belongs to Augustus Nayne, a British officer who fell in the 1857 uprising in Lucknow and, legend has it, was buried with his monocle still firmly in place.

Most of the England team looked on in bemusement as a scruffy backpacker managed to spend the whole day in the VIP Enclosure!

There's been some fine food on offer

For the England team the daily cycle of playing during the day and attending official functions in the evening is clearly trying.

However, for their newly appointed media manager the opportunity of a free night out and more importantly free dinner was too good to miss.

So, after a half hour's wait for the Indian team - holding a post-mortem after England's stunning 150-run opening partnership on the first day - I jumped aboard the official bus to an unknown destination somewhere in Lucknow.

While the England women were perfect ambassadors for their country, dressed in their smart England uniforms, your correspondent was, much to the amusement of the England team, dressed in the only pair of trousers I have on this trip and a pair of flip-flops.

However, after sitting through a cultural programme that saw the Australian flag brought out to welcome England, I delved into the delicious dishes of mutton and chicken laid on for both teams and, seemingly, all of Lucknow's high society.

Then I squeezed my way back on the team coach, outrageously got the team to drop me at Hotel Flea Pit, and spent the night wondering if the true identity of the 'Media Manager' might be revealed before the Test ends.