Day 9: Sat 31 October

CricInfo multimedia manager Rohan Chandran gives
us his daily view of the Wills International Cup...

"I’m nothing." Unremarkable words in themselves, until you consider from whence they came. Nonetheless, that’s what the one and only Geoffrey Boycott said, just before tripping over a metal rod lying on the ground. Now I admit it’s taken entirely out of context, and it’s probably rude to eavesdrop as well, but hey, I was there, and it’s far too juicy to leave alone.

Strangely though, that was far from the highlight of the day. Regular readers will remember my mention in an earlier issue of Meril Beauty Soap, one of the official sponsors and products of the Bangladesh National team. Now I don't know if the PR department at Meril have been reading my work or not, but yesterday, I was the proud recipient of a Meril gift pack. Soap, toothpaste, after shave lotion, and of particular interest to Travis, some petroleum jelly. Put that together with the Meril cap I had from before, and I no longer need to go shopping for souvenirs from Dhaka.

Alex’s love affair with Tony seems to have taken a downward turn of late. To start with, Alex yesterday shouted at Tony to shut up, when he was saying something somewhat, umm... less than brilliant, on TV, and we know that nobody else has ever done that. The real blow however was dealt by Mr Greig himself, when he dropped by with his lady friend. As if bringing her along wasn't enough, he only introduced her to Simon, ignoring poor Alex completely. The censors watchful eye prevents me from quoting Alex’s passionate response to the snub. On the plus side, at least it gave me some relief from his nagging.

Tony may be down on the list of loves, but being on camera certainly isn't. Apparently not satisfied with keeping me completely out of the real video interviews we've been doing (although look carefully and you'll see me in the background of the stunningly entertaining and fascinating interview with the BCB president), he was keen on taking pride of place when the cameras came in to film CricInfo at work. Unfortunately for him, Simon had temporarily taken over the keyboard, and although Travis, Simon and I could see him standing behind, off camera, smoking from all orifices (nothing to do with last night’s dinner), none of us was kind enough to make room. We don't know when we'll be on air, but you can bet your bottom dollar that Alex won't be watching.

Just realised something else interesting today. I've had a go at Alex for the number of times he’s been on the phone to Sam, but all this while, it’s been the wrong bloke I've been picking on. Badri, as newlywed as they come, has been in touch with his wife precisely zero times since arriving in Dhaka. He’s been brilliant about phoning CricInfo’s office in Madras though, so he does deserve some credit. Even I've done better, with the one phone call down under.

An interesting thought sprung to mind earlier when Simon was explaining to someone the three basic requirements for someone to become a member of the CricInfo team. Our esteemed CEO made it abundantly clear that interested individuals would require a good business sense, computer skills, and an in depth cricket knowledge. It really does make one wonder, because looking around this room, I think that between the five of us, we might well be lucky to add up to three out of three.

That'll be it for today - there's the small matter of the final to get on with and cover. There'll be one more edition of the diary coming out, so do come back to have a look!