About a couple of hours north of Leicester, set amidst some wonderful hills and valleys, is the little Yorkshire town of Harrogate. Most of the Indians couldn't have heard of it before, though with his awesome memory Sachin Tendulkar remembered playing here against Derbyshire seven years ago. And I would be greatly surprised if they chose to think about it again. Like all English grounds, Harrogate is green and the grass on the outfield is lovingly tended to.Like a more famous ground though, there is a pronounced slope from one side to the other. No ground should have it, least of all Lord's, for as the Indians discovered today, the water from the outfield drains towards the pitch rather than away from it. And so a mildly chilly and reasonably bright day was wasted doing exactly what they had done for the previous two weeks.The Indian team, all credit to them, didn't throw a tantrum though they might have been entitled to one, given that everyone else was playing a warm-up game. And so with one game togo before the big one against South Africa, the best batsmen that Srinath and Kumble have bowled to have been the Leicestershire seconds; a bit like asking Carl Lewis to prepare for the Olympics by running alongside the Indian relay team!Privately, the team could not have taken kindly to being asked to play in Harrogate which is struggling to retain its status as a first class ground. I am not surprised because it requires a little more than just good intent to play host to an international team.Admittedly, it is a beautiful place but more the kind you would want to take high school children to if you want them to work on a project on the modern English countryside and its effect on contemporary sheep farming! India's cricketers may not be as sensitive to the beauty of the countryside but then that is not what they have come here for. And in a week of unsettled weather, they have been reduced to hoping that they get a game at Nottingham. If they do, they will have no options on team selection and I knowthat was a priority with them when they sat down to think about these warm-up games. Their ideal script envisaged the top players getting a good work-out in the first two games and the next four finding their feet in the third.Now Ramesh, Khurasiya, Mohanty and Chopra, none of whom have played a decent level of cricket here will, if required, have to go straight into a big game.This is still early summer, no T-shirts in sight yet, and England gets a lot of residual rain at this time of the year. Already, the forecast is for very wet weather at Lords on the 14th of May and if that game does get rained off, hopefully more questions will be asked on why this World Cup is being played so early. And since I am being so wicked, let me put a very cruel thought into your minds.Will this World Cup be dominated by a Tendulkar, a Lara or a Waugh or will two other names play a bigger role? These are still relatively unknown people but by the end of the World Cup this anonymity may have been lost forever. Iwonder if the bookmakers here would offer any odds on a Mr. Duckworth and a Mr. Lewis emerging as the most frequently mentioned names at the first week of this World Cup.
