India

I seemed to time my trip to Goa quite nicely....not just because a friend got married, but also because India beat the Aussies in the 2nd Test, the ICL was in full swing, and Sachin Tendulkar took the record for most Test runs and went past 12,000.

I was pretty surprised by the reaction given what I'd known of India when I was last there around the time of the World Cup. Stoning of player's houses, burning of efiges of players and coach - it was all extreme to the point of a communal loss of any sense of reality. The thought that a country can effectively come to a halt on the basis of going out of the World Cup was a worry, and it was even more worrying to consider that the same can happen in England with football. Mass hysteria is a little alarming at times!

So the reaction to Sachin Tendulkar breaking the record was unexpectedly sensible. He was of course lauded for his achievement, his relatives were interviewed etc, but there was a sense of perspective that I wasn't expecting and was pleased to see. That sense of perspective was perhaps less in evidence when the 2nd Test went India's way - you would have thought they'd won the series already! If they don't win the series the media will look pretty silly given all the hype around one solitary win, but given the Aussies lack of firepower in the bowling department, they may well not have to consider that as an outcome. It is interesting to see the way the Aussies (or at least some of them) see it - that basically it came down to the toss of a coin. I don't think it was quite as simple as that, but I certainly don't think the Indian team or their public should get ahead of themselves!

As always in India, games of cricket were happening all over the place and I found quite a nice little ground. Yes the stumps are a little rudimentary, but I was gutted that I didn't get to play at this ground!