91Èȱ¬

But we then hit rush hour and barely moved for two hours, so I limped towards my hotel at 1930 with plans scuppered. My mood was lifted when a Valentine's Day rose was presented to me at the hotel's reception, although I soon realised it came from a large box hidden under the desk.

Tuesday 15 Feb

The first task of the day was to try and collect the 91Èȱ¬ team's World Cup accreditation, the small pieces of plastic which are key to getting around the understandably heavy security which we expect during the World Cup.

We made our way slowly to the agreed collection point at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium to be met by hordes of police, armoured vehicles and soldiers angrily informing me that I cannot get in without a pass.

I tried to explain that I have come to collect this pass but negotiation is not easy with various frightening-looking rifles pointing towards me. I eventually found a friendly face, , who gets me into the ground and took me to the accreditation centre, where I was confronted by a huge round table piled high with passes.

After a couple of frustrating hours going through these piles, I am told that someone has already fetched them for us! I was relieved to finally get my hands on my accreditation, although I noticed it included a dodgy-looking photo of me taken circa 1995.

No time to worry about that as I had to head out towards , a town on the southern outskirts of Dhaka, where England were practising ahead of their opening warm-up match against Canada on Wdnesday.

However, the traffic was appalling so I had to make an urgent call to the England media man James Avery to ask if I could interview Ian Bell at the team's hotel when they return. Fortunately, James took pity on me and Ian Bell was in good form when I spoke to him later.

Wednesday 16 February

England's first warm-up match against Canada in Fatullah. Having been caught out by the traffic on the first two days, I took no chances and arrange to leave the hotel at 0630 for a match starting at 0930.

Despite a couple of detours, where we got slightly lost, including an impromptu appearance at an athletics track, by some miracle we arrived at the by 0730.

The view from the TMS commentary box in Dhaka

When I was at this ground last year, TMS broadcast from a ramshackle commentary box covered with broken glass surrounded by lots of suspicious-looking pools of water. But I was amazed to discover a huge brand-new media centre has been built, including a large radio room, press box and several TV commentary boxes.

I asked whether there are plans to use the stadium for future international games but a local official told me the redevelopment is just for these warm-up games. I managed to get our broadcast lines working without too many problems ready for England's first foray in the World Cup as the only member of the TMS team providing 5 Live updates.

The big news from home is that my six-year-old daughter has abandoned on CBeebies to listen to my 0830 update. She would never have done that if had been on.

The main talking point is that as England reveal their World Cup secret weapon before interviewing him after England's laboured victory.

Thursday 17 February

The TMS team started to arrive in dribs and drabs. Today was Aggers and Vic Marks, who appeared bleary-eyed after their flight. While they got themselves settled into the hotel, I nipped off to England practice to interview in his first bowl since the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.

I mentioned his good form had clearly been inspired by his appearance as a TMS summariser in Perth. After that I headed over to the for the World Cup opening ceremony.

I arrived in time to hear doing his soundcheck, relieved to discover that "Everything I do, I do it for you" was not his setlist.

Andrew Strauss's transportation for the opening World Cup ceremony - photo: Adam Mountford

Apart from some speeches that were a little longer than they needed to be, the ceremony was really enjoyable and highlights included the captains being paraded around in rickshaws (although Graeme Smith's vehicle got a little stuck) , a spectacular aerial cricket match with performers abseiling down from a nearby skyscraper and a colourful performance of the official World Cup song "" or "whack it with all your might".

The real excitement, though, came as we made our way through thousands of revellers to find our driver. The atmosphere was fantastic and it was a night I will never forget.

Friday 18 February

Back to Fatullah for . As well as looking after Aggers, I was trying to help .

Lee has been at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium covering the India and Bangladesh press conferences and called to say the ground is surrounded by thousands of supporters wanting to catch a glimpse of their heroes.

The press conferences finished at 1400 but took him until 1900 to get through the crowds to find his driver!

Saturday 19 February

. I am a bit of a worrier and arrived at the ground five hours before we went on air to ensure I can get our broadcast lines sorted.

Everyone I met is talking about whether Bangladesh can beat India - and there was a real sense of excitement around.

The programme goes amazingly smoothly as Virender Sehwag literally silenced the capacity crowd with a brilliant century to take the game away from Bangladesh. The match finished at 2230 and, by the time I have packed away all our equipment, it was past midnight. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

Sunday 20 February

With this World Cup being played across three different countries in numerous venues, there is inevitably going to be lots of travelling of teams, supporters and media alike.

Today was our first big travel day as we made our way from Dhaka to Nagpur. Although the journey is not that far in actual distance, the trip takes over 12 hours as we had to take two planes and three bus rides.

However, it all runs to time and spirits are high. I chatted to a couple of England supporters who told me not to expect too many members of the to be in Nagpur. They also told me how annoyed England fans are at the .

Although they can get their money back for tickets purchased, there is the extra hassle of changing flights and hotels.

Monday 21 February

When I left the hotel this morning, I remember thinking to myself that it all seems to be going too well. Today was my set-up day at the VCA stadium in Nagpur and it turned into one of total frustration.

I arrived at the ground early to find an empty commentary box with no lines, no chairs and no power, . Also, the promised accreditation for some of our team failed to arrive and no-one seems to have any idea what is going on.

We are told that power will be available shortly, but it does not arrive until a 1845. I also spent he day trying to get our broadcast lines working while the low point of the day was when, after several hours of arguing, I was told we can only have our booked facilities if I provided a written letter.

We left the ground after more than 10 hours with no real idea if we can broadcast England's opening match on Monday. At the hotel Vic Marks said I should remember the character played by Geoffrey Rush in the film "Shakespeare in Love" who says "it will all work out well in the end, but I don't know why it's a mystery".

Tuesday 22 February

My birthday - although the only present I was interested in was the lines at the ground working so we can get TMS on air. I got to the ground at 0800 and, for the first couple of hours, nothing went to plan.

But fortunately in the nick of time the lines somehow sprung to life and I breathed a sigh of relief as Aggers went on air shortly after 1400, although made me wonder if it was all worth the effort.

England somehow scraped home and the broadcast goes well with Geoff Boycott and Jonathan Agnew in top form.

As they discuss Boycott's technical inadequacies, Geoff said: "My daughter calls me a muppet". Aggers response was: "I'm sure you've been called much worse". We went off air at 2230 and, by the time I have packed away the equipment, it's 0100 before I get back to the hotel.

Aggers said he had ordered pizza but by the time I have come off the phone to my daughters, who sing "Happy Birthday" to me, the last slice has been eaten! But overall I went to bed pleased to have got through the day. Despite some challenges, it has been a really enjoyable start to the TMS World Cup experience.