Bindi for good luck

Good fortune plays a part in every cricketers' career. However, I will be relieved once this County Championship season finishes on Sunday.

In March I was out covering England's tour to India while Middlesex were in Mumbai for their pre-season tour. Skipper Ben Hutton and I took some time out to sample the hectic delights of the capital and ended up at Colaba market.

I decided to get on tape Ben haggling for DVDs and as this was happening a bloke came up and started putting a bindi on him for good luck. I asked him how many runs Ben would get this season and he replied 150, which we quickly made him turn into 1,500.

He was subsequently out with shingles for the majority of the season and only thanks to a recent ton against Yorkshire on my wedding day (you know it!) has his season tally progressed past the 400-run mark.