Mumbai
Thursday, November 15, 2001 The SAS may have been keeping out of sight in Afghanistan, but 1000 miles south in Mumbai, they were sitting conspicuously in a hotel lobby. Two former soldiers, Mathew Kilbride and the aptly named Douglas Dick, have been brought out by the ECB to provide additional security to the England team.

Pale-faced and slim-built, they can't really be called heavies and neither will carry a gun. But they have been hired, in the words of the ECB's John Carr, for their "generic understanding of security issues", despite assurances from the Indian authorities that such assistance wouldn't be necessary.

Both are employees of Olive of Mayfair, which sounds as if it might purvey high-class nibbles. It is actually something rather less appetising. The Olive website promises "highly trained Body Guards (BGs) who … have been trained to the highest level and are operationally proven".

But far more intimidating, at least on the surface, are the five gun-toting Indian guards who greet anyone foolish enough to venture on to the same floor as the players. They sit facing the lift and stare, fingers cradling the trigger. Man-high metal-detectors block the path of each corridor.

Despite this and the constant bangs of fireworks and firecrackers which to an over-active imagination could resemble sporadic machine-gun fire, the England team seemed fairly relaxed. John Carr said he was confident that the players were "reassured as individuals" about the arrangements. And they looked pretty calm as they indulged in some light swimming, despite being easy targets for any hungry sniper hiding in the high buildings overlooking the pool.

The hotel seemed to be doing all it could to make the players feel at home. A muzak version of Everywhere I Lay My Hat by Paul Young echoed round the lobby, and diners tucked into a curry buffet or poached eggs washed down with Queen's greatest hits.

Gerry McCrudden, the press secretary from the British High Commission in Delhi who briefed the players on general behaviour in India ("be polite and well mannered"), also played down any danger. "British people around the world are being advised to be careful since September 11," he said, "but we have no information or intelligence to suggest that British people in India are a particular target. Most tourists to India have no problems … it is a very easy place to live."

And the team could come to regret their understandable demands for extra security. Each player will have to speak to a security official before he leaves the hotel and "will have discreet coverage at all times", be it a quick drink or a visit to the pictures. What on earth would Ian Botham have said?

Tanya Aldred, our assistant editor, will be reporting exclusively for Wisden.com throughout the England tour.

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