Ricky Ponting

The moment that most young Indian lads find out I am from Australia, cricket becomes the topic number one. And of course, because I come from Australia I am tarred with a similar brush of cricketing brilliance. From there, its a downward spiral through obscure cricket history and then statistics- run and strike rates. Cue the glazed eyes.

To make things interesting, I stir cricket fanatics up, suggesting that all Australians know the secret to our cricketing success. Of course I won't tell. Eyes widen and distress sets in.

I'm not into cricket, and the Indians I have spoken to know vastly more about current and historical cricket in Australia and the world than I will ever know. As anyone who has travelled in India knows, it is sometimes difficult to get common ground with Indian people. They clearly love the game, and I just don't have the heart to tell them that I don't care for it at all.