Day 2 on our schedule showed “Rest Day”. But you take this group of cricketers who are used to explaining to their neighbors why they wear white clothes every Saturday and get grass stains on them and red smears by the end of the day. Then you drop them in a place where the casual conversation between bartenders is a comparison of Gavaskar and Tendulkar and Ponting, the excitement peaks and they want every moment of this trip to be about cricket. So, who needs a rest day when you can find world class cricketing facilities a mere 10 minute drive from the hotel.

A big bus showed up at 10 AM, and we all loaded our kitbags and made the short drive to the cricket practice facility. Two hours of huffing and puffing and straining and grunting with the bat and ball left us all emotionally very satisfied and physically completely spent! Only then did we question the wisdom of such vigorous practice the day before an international practice game against Canada.

The evening brought home the reality of our participation in a “World Cup” when the team management called for a one on one with each player to talk about the tournament, preparations, ideas, strategies, etc. We received the official credentials for entering the facilities during the games (wow – never thought people would need credentials to come see me play cricket – how cool is that?). Now we also need to find space in our bag for extra world cup T-shirts, water bottles, and other swag. The team meeting at the end of the day was the first tournament related meeting and planning we had since landing in the Upside Down land. Ended the day with a nice tea and cookies treat courtesy Baba.

Tomorrow is a game against our neighbors from the North as part of the final stretch of tournament preparation.