7.30am
Woke up after our first night in London feeling well rested and ready to go despite the fire alarm going off in our hotel twice overnight. We're staying at a nice, heritage-style hotel in East London so we are right amongst the action. The only down side is that our rooms are the size of a postage stamp - in fact they're probably a bit smaller.
The two single beds are so close together they effectively join as a double bed and the bathroom is so small that you have to stand outside to find enough room to dry yourself. In saying that though, the rooms have really grown on me in their own quaint way and if anything they've helped us bond even more given their close confines.
10am
After breakfast, the team jumped on the bus to KIA Oval, the location of our game on Saturday and our first training session in 30 minutes time. The boys were up and about enjoying the sights of London on the way but very keen to get to KIA Oval to take in some of its heritage and stature.
10.30am
We arrived at KIA Oval ready for our first training session. In getting off the bus I immediately noticed two things - the big gasoline structure behind the ground that you see on TV all the time and the fact that the light towers were so small. In fact, their lights were so vertically challenged that they barely made it over the grandstand.
The 'famous' gas structure at The Oval
Just as I was about to question the technology in the UK, our CEO Keith Thomas remarked to me how wonderfully advanced this ground was to have retractable light towers. Ah ha - no wonder they're so small at the moment...wait to there unleashed they'll be as high as Big Ben! And no doubt we'll see the light towers in action on Saturday as well. Given the game starts at 3.30pm here in London, it won't finish to about 5.45pm and it starts getting very dark at around 5.00pm so we'll definitely get to see those light towers extend toward the heavens.
10.35am
The team made their way into the Surrey Cricket Club changerooms. Players were fascinated taking in the history of the dressing room when someone barked "Hey lads, here's KP's locker." Well I've never seen such a stampede. Talk about congestion on the footy field, there were about 25 players around this one locker trying to get a glimpse or get a photo taken.
Sampling some of KP's kit
Then, when we thought things couldn't get any better, a room steward came over and opened up his locker for a while. Like kids in a candy store, we got to hold one of Pietersen's bats as well as handle gloves, caps and practise shirts that he has worn. It was a fantastic experience and great way to kick off our day at KIA Oval.
Tommy 'KP' Logan
Brad and Stewy at The Oval
11am
We had a sharp 45 minute session which allowed us to acclimatise ourselves to the conditions and also to the configurations of the ground. As has been the case for the whole trip, spirits were high and we finished off with some goal kicking.
Coming off the ground you couldn't help but think about some of the big cricket moments that have happened at this ground like in the final test of the 2005 Ashes series Shane Warne dropped our man Kevin Pietersen at first slip when England were in trouble and he was on very little and he went to make 158 and win the Ashes for England. It is a ground steeped in many more stories like that one and its tradition was certainly not lost on our playing group.
Acting skipper Hamish Hartlett and coach Ken Hinkley front the media
2pm
After a light lunch at the ground, the group headed back to the hotel with the rest of the afternoon free to look around London. I had a pretty low key afternoon where I caught up with my older brother Matthew, looked around at a few shops and went to a Mexican restuarant.
Robbie, Salts and Gus taking in some of the sights in London...yes, it's cold over here!
Some of Tommy Logan's handywork
Dinner with the boys - (L-R) Heath, Hitchcock, Butcher, O'Shea, Moore and me
6.30pm
After arriving back at the hotel at around 5.30pm, I freshened up with a shower, donned my suit pants and Power polo ready for the Government reception at the prestigious Australia House. It was an enjoyable night with both us and the Bulldogs in attendance and included speeches from Australian dignitaries along with AFL and club officials.
8.30pm
Arrived back at the hotel and ready to call it a night and dream about two things - our tour of Lords tomorrow and being reunited with my missing laptop. Still no word from the airline authorities but hopefully I'll hear something in the next 24 hours. Our game is less than 48 hours away so time for a good night's sleep in preparation
