This week's England Tour diary comes from our correspondent, Anand Vasu, who covered the second Test between the England and India at Motera, Ahmedabad.

Jimmy to the rescue

It was the worst kept-secret in world cricket. The Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, grew extremely uncomfortable when anyone ran in a few paces, dug the ball in short and sent the ball rising towards his ribs. From Dilhara Fernando to Jason Gillespie, and most recently Shaun Pollock, quicks have had the Indian captain jumping around. Hardly a surprise, then, that Ganguly has not scored a ton in as many as 19 Tests. In a bid to rid himself of the malaise, Ganguly called on his friend, and arguably the best player of short-pitched bowling India has ever produced, Mohinder Amarnath. "I have come to Ahmedabad purely to watch Ganguly bat in the nets," said the former India great. "As a friend, he called me over, and I am always glad to help," said Amarnath. Ganguly spent a great deal of time making subtle adjustments to his batting under the guidance of Amarnath at the nets at Motera. Let us now wait and see if this is the cure that Ganguly has been looking for!

The BCCI secretary show at Motera

Indian cricket politics is often followed with as much vigour and enthusiasm in newspapers as the cricket itself. With tours being proposed, negotiated, finalised, and then cancelled, there is always much to look out for. While Board presidents themselves are a tad too high and mighty to be mingling freely with the masses, Board secretaries have no such airs. On the second day's play at Motera, Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, told pressmen, much to the relief of players, that the proposed one-day series in Bangladesh (January 4 -14) was off. This gives players a chance to get some well-earned rest before the limited-overs games against England. What made the situation far more enjoyable, however, was the arrival of Jaywant Lele, former Board secretary, shortly after the departure of Shah. Lele, ever quotable and ever denying, is a favourite with the press. He may not be secretary anymore, but his popularity sure hasn't diminished!

Barmy Army silenced

First, let us get one thing straight. They may be Barmy, but this certainly is no army here at Ahmedabad. In the wake of the war in Afghanistan, people have been wary of traveling to the subcontinent. Numerous bookings that were made have been cancelled, with no replacements found. Instead of the usually 800-1000 strong army, there are hardly 200 people waving the Union Jack and sporting English replica T-shirts. Denied their fuel - mugs and mugs of lager - in the dry state of Gujarat, still under prohibition, the English cheerleading squad has been uncharacteristically quiet. Further sapped by the heat in the uncovered stands, the Army has only occasionally mustered up enough energy to belt out one of their chants. Every time they have done so, moreover, the reply has been fierce, loud, and generally overwhelming from their Indian counterparts. Massive crowds congregated around the Barmy Army and chanted "Ganapathi Bappa Moriya!" which, roughly translated, means "All hail Lord Ganapathi!" The Indian crowd, however, have remarkably short memories. When Anil Kumble took six wickets on the first day, he was cheered till he could take it no more. When, on the second day, the Karnataka leggie dropped a catch and left the field for medical attention, the boos were as loud as the cheers!

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