'We don't mind being called batsmen'

Athimuthu Ganesh Nadar

It is hot in Chennai. It seems even hotter inside the M A Chidambaram Stadium, in more ways than one. Adding to the mugginess of the weather was the daunting presence of a jeepload of women cops, mounting guard over the England women's cricket team at practice.

Quite a few of the local league players had turned out to help in the practice, bowling to the British eves. The only one free to chat, when I landed up, was Karen, the physiotherapist - a role that, on a tour to India, apparently involves more than its fair share of dietary duties.

"We have fragile stomachs, you know, so we drink only bottled water," Karen tells me. "The heat doesn't bother us, as much as the humidity - I insist that all the players drink lots of water. And I warn them of all the foods they should not eat. But the curries are delicious, and tempting," she adds on a laugh.

The team, says Karen as she surveys the various members at practice in various parts of the ground, is young, raw, mostly inexperienced. "We have three experienced bowlers, and some very young players - the youngest, who actually made her debut in the 2000 Women's World Cup, is not here though since her A level exams are on."

Academics has taken a toll on personnel - besides their bright young star, two other players opted out of the tour thanks to impending university examinations.

Sarah Clarke has exams, too - two days after the team returns to England, in fact. But the England leg-spinner hasn't let that deter her. "I've brought my books with me, I hope I get time to study them," says the girl who hopes to major in Leisure and Sports."

As she talks, I find myself wishing the Indian education syllabus was similarly enlightened - imagine majoring in Leisure, of all things!

"I'm loving the sun here," Clarke says. "You know, we left England at 6.30 am in the morning. Or at least, we were supposed to - but they had to defrost the plane for an hour before we could take off, it was minus ten degrees out there!"

What I thought was a tall boy in a helmet turns out to be Lucy Pearson - all of six feet one inch in height, and a member of the team since 1997. Lucy opens the bowling, and bats at number 11. "We hope to win the series," she told me with a grin. Subsequent events have belied that hope, but what of that?

"If I can bowl 20 overs on the trot in England, then hopefully I shouldn't have trouble bowling 10 even in these humid conditions," Lucy says in response to a question about whether the weather could play a role in the team's performance.

"All you need is plenty of water."

Laura Newton - no relation, she makes sure you know, of Issac Newton - is one of the all-rounders in the side, and like Lucy, is optimistic. "We have practiced a lot, we hope to do well," she smiles.

Mandia Godooiman is the wicket keeper-batsman. Batsman? "Yes, well, we don't mind being called batsmen, we got used to it," says Mandia, a tyro on her first tour with this team. "We are here to learn and hopefully, as the tour goes on, we will improve."

One thing you notice, as you continue chatting with these girls, is that they have an awareness that their accents may not be too easily understood over here - so, care is taken to enunciate clearly, to spell out their names and make sure we note them down right.

Arran Thomson is the team's poster girl - pretty as a picture and by her smiling reaction to my comment, quite used to having people tell her so. She is a batsman who, during practice, seems to spend most of her time bowling. "The others need batting practice, and someone has to bowl to them too," she explains, smiling.

Coach John Harmer watches it all, calm and patient, applauding good work with bat and ball and quietly correcting errors. "This team will improve as the series progresses, we will end it a better team than when we started out and that is what I am looking for, I want the team to learn and to improve," he says.

England men's teams have, in the past, tended to treat India tours as some form of punishment - this lot of women players, though, are very clear that they have been enjoying themselves and loving every minute of being in India. "It's like being in another world altogether," one of the team members says, and the others nod in agreement.

And oh yes, they all want to see the Taj Mahal - one way or other, they hope to make time for an eyeful of that supreme monument to love.

The coach for his part is preoccupied with considerations more crucial to the cricket - like the weather for instance. "Is it going to get even hotter than this?" he asks. I tell him that Chennai is the hottest spot on their itinerary - things should get relatively better as they move north.

The abiding impression you are left with is that the team has talent, self-belief, and charm. Whether the combination is enough to over-ride their collective lack of experience is moot - but at the least, even their defeats will be handled with grace, which comes as a relief when you remember the original captain grumpy, Graham Gooch.

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