A quick note to congratulate the winners of the fantasy edition of the SA v Bangladesh series. Those of you, including yours truly, who haven't got things quite so right, much like the Bangladeshi team, might want to study how these top dogs have gone about the business of staying ahead of the pack. It might help us all, including Bangladesh, return with a better performance during the next set of fantasy games (Australia v SA and New Zealand v WI) that are coming up very soon. Thanks for playing with us so far and continue to watch this space for regular fantasy updates.

A quick note to congratulate the top names on the leaderboard at the end of the ODI stage. Those of you, including yours truly, who haven't got things quite so right during the first stage of this rather one-sided ODI series might want to study how these top dogs have gone about the business of staying ahead of the pack. It might help us all return with a better performance during the Tests. Until England return, and let's hope they do, thanks for playing and watch this space.

Click here to find out what you should do with your fantasy teams. (If you ask me, now might be a good time to give this game a rest and focus on the other two on-going ones.) It's been a hard series for those of you who placed their faith in England. (I did.) Until the next time we meet, which will be as soon as the teams announce their squads for the two Test matches, do spare a thought for the hapless victims caught up in the terror attacks in Mumbai. Talk to you soon.

The second Test starts soon. There's a few interesting things going on out there in Australia. The man who took 12 wickets on debut and didn't play in the Test after is now injured and may not find a place in the side tomorrow. Jason Krejza's eventful tryst with cricket continues. Then there's Andrew Symonds who's been pardoned, yet again. And thrown a lifeline, yet again. How will he respond? Now might be a good time to look for answers to these and other questions that will affect the composition of your team. Click here to give yourself the best chance of scoring maximum points by getting your transfer strategy right.

Those of you with teams that have performed as badly as England have (yes, it is possible), here's your chance to salvage some pride. Do check out the series home page so you're in the know about the possible changes both teams are likely to ring in for the 5th ODI and can get your transfers right. Dhoni did say some of the others who haven't had a chance to play will get a look-in.

And what about the English squad? Well, God knows what they're going to do to better their performance so far. All that said, I know what I need to do: think really hard before I finalise my team. After all, 'The Community Managers' too need to raise their game by a notch. Or three.

The second Test starts tomorrow. Now might be a good time to check out the series home page and keep an eye on who's likely to play. That way, you can make sure you get your transfers right. And not commit the same mistakes that I have during the India v England ODI series. Happy transferring.

It's not just England who have performed disastrously in the first four ODIs. So have I and my Fantasy team. I've got my Trump Players wrong. I've been hit by injuries. I've chosen the wrong guys for my team. In short, my performance in this fantasy series has pretty much mirrored that of England's. This after having done so well in the Australia v India game. If you ask me, I'll say it's a combination of luck and poor preparation. (But then, you'd expect that from a losing captain, wouldn't you?)

Consider this: I picked Ryan Sidebottom for the second ODI. But all he has done for me and England in the ODIs so far is threaten to make it to the playing XI only to end up being ruled out of the entire ODI series. I suppose I ought to have followed the fortunes of the team a lot more closely by checking out the series home pages regularly. I didn't. Put simply, I took my eye off the ball. Not surprisingly, I paid for it. Dearly.

Then, I had Yuvraj down as my Trump Player for the series opener only to develop cold feet and lose faith in Mr. Inconsistent. Instead, I decided to go with Mr. Consistent, Gambhir. A safe but far from perfect choice. To make matters worse, assuming his back problem was a lot more serious than it actually turned out to be, I proceeded to drop Yuvraj from my team for the second ODI. Silly, silly me for making a mountain out of a back niggle. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now when I look at my team, I can only cringe and wonder how I got it all so very wrong. Well, like all good players, I guess everyone is entitled to a bad series. Or two. After all, as they say, form is temporary but class is permanent. Or so I hope.

Indeed, there are 3 more ODIs to go and I could still try and salvage something. But, much like England, it'll be a case of too little a little too late. I guess the only thing left for me to do is play for pride. And so, I will. I'll be back with my team for the next ODI. Until then, feel free to share fantasy strategies with me. As you can see, I can do with a bit of assistance.

Dropped:
Yuvraj
Bell
Broad
Harmison
Anderson

Picked:
Raina
Sidebottom
Bopara
Collngwood
Munaf Patel
Yusuf Pathan
Rohit Sharma
Gambhir (TP)
Prior
Flintoff
Zaheer Khan

Let's play!

Have you put together your fantasy team? If not, you still have a bit of time and loads of information to help you arrive at your set of choices. Time now for me to go and do just that. I'll be back in a day or three to share my picks with you. Until then, ciao.

PS: Couldn't wait for a day or three, so here's my Fantasy team for the first ODI. Come on, talk to me.

The Community Managers:
G Gambhir
IR Bell
Yuvraj Singh *TP
RG Sharma
YK Pathan
A Flintoff
MJ Prior
JM Anderson
Z Khan
RJ Sidebottom
MM Patel

A couple of changes I've made: Gambhir is now my Trump Player. Sidebottom is gone and in comes Harmison. Also, I've dropped Anderson and drafted in Broad. Let's see how it all pans out.

Shown below is a list of all the winners for the most hotly contested Ind v Aus series that has just concluded. I'll be contacting every one of you to tell you what you have won and where the prizes will be delivered. Hope you enjoyed playing. I certainly did and even though my team only ended up in the top 1000, I did manage to stay in the top 100 till the final Test. Ah well, maybe I'll do better in the upcoming Ind v Eng series.

The Big VVinners:
Series winner
dilsere920

1st Test
dhoom
manit 11
soni7

2nd Test
Sachins
Prof is smarter then scientist
indiarocks

3rd Test
Desperado
Dubai All Stars
sams sluggers

4th Test
IND VS AUS 04
mercury_rigid
broks11

Here's what all of you will get a share of. Enjoy!

It's a time for congratulations and all that. Announcing the THIRD set of the many prizes to be won during the course of the India v Australia Test series 2008. The top 3 team managers on the India v Australia leaderboard for the third Test - 'sunny_sunny', 'Rahul_Mohnani' and 'sam2906', get to win:

1st Team - Sachin Tendulkar Framed Signed Mini Bat with 3 Photographs
This signed and framed mini bat with 3 photos is a marvellous piece of cricket memorabilia. It features a miniature cricket bat which has illustrations of Tendulkar, a profile photograph, a One-Day action photo and a Test action photo. The bat has even been signed by Tendulkar himself, all of which has been encased in a classic glass framed box.

2nd Team - Indian Summer The Story of the 1983 World Cup DVD
The programme captures the places and personalities of the tournament. It incorporates unforgettable archival footage from BBC and ITN and blends these with exclusive, synchronised reminiscences from stars connected with the tournament. They comprise of Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny,Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu from the winning side, Sir Vivian Richards and Michael Holding from among the runners-up, DavidGower of England and Dave Houghton of Zimbabwe.

3rd Team - Wisden Cricketer 2009 Calendar
This A4 sized colour calendar features some of the most beautiful grounds in the UK. Each ground has been photographed by one of TWC's regular photographers, it shows a different ground for each month and folds out to A3 so has plenty of space for notes.

Note: All prizes will be given at the end of the Test and ODI series.