Bowled by a bird

The first thing I see walking into the WACA is the John Inverarity stand. Now that's a name one cannot forget, only because of him being involved in one of the most bizarre near-dismissals of all time. After being clean bowled for a duck by Greg Chappell - the ball deviating in mid-air - he was recalled to bat by umpire Colin Egar who signalled dead-ball. The reason? The ball had deflected off a sparrow.

Quote of the day: If you wanted to know the exact level of hype that's going around this little boy called Shaun Tait, you needed to listen to Dennis Lillee at the WACA today. "Tait, on a good day putting it all together, it would not surprise me if he does bowl that 105mph/170kph ball."

Newspaper of the day: The main newspaper in Perth is the West Australian. It's a paper that you really don't see in the other cities. It's also a paper that doesn't put much of its major content online. So you see journalists from the paper but can't read what they write until you land in this state. So I make a promise to read only this paper for the next seven days. Soon I realise I have little choice. Just like you can't get the West Australian in other states, you can't get other papers here.

Number of the day: The Indian team finish their batting practise around 3:50. They then make their way towards the main field for some slip-catching practice. It's a surprise that the clock towers in Perth don't strike at 3:55. It's after all the number famous here: Rod Marsh and Lillee snared 355 victims apiece.

Lesson for the day: The Fremantle Doctor, a wind that blows across the WACA in Perth, is called so because it originates in Fremantle and also because of its healing properties. Healing? Ask those batsmen who are facing up to bowlers running in with the wind. More like howling.