Naked ambition

Middlesex are on a 10-day cricket tour in Mumbai, netting at the World Cricket Academy and playing three games.

Nobok gave a first interview of the season to Middlesex skipper Ben Hutton and what he hopes will also be the last. It was surprising when the stats told how his grandfather, the legendary Sir Len Hutton, never toured India with England.

The man to ask about touring is the Middlesex coach John Emburey. The former spinner toured three times with England, but he was dropped in a few Tests and underbowled in his eyes, while most of the memorable stories usually happened off the field.

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Bombay is obsessed with celebrity. This week the public's attention has turned to waiting en masse outside the Taj Hotel as the player buses file back from the ground.

They stare blankly, the odd shriek of excitement aside, and stay long after they have ventured indoors. They could no worse than stop on the main road near Chowpatty beach and stare at cricket's star players adorning the big posters.

One features present England captain Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan advertising Kingfisher water, taken from the TV advert they filmed a few weeks ago. The players were given a sneak preview prior to the third Test, a different take on the usual video analysis they go through on these nights.

Flintoff took the whole episode in his stride, but here's the gist. Vaughan and Flintoff are seen in the showers (shoulder up) and the injured captain starts reciting an Indian melody. Freddie tries to repeat it but Vaughan keeps saying he can't get it right. Freddie insists he can do it but fails again.

It could be a serial to rival Beefy's Weetabix ads.