He narrates some fascinating anecdotes about South Africa being fast-tracked back into international cricket - "The meeting in Sharjah lasted just about 25 minutes, and the Pakistani general who was their board representative was the first to propose our return after having spent all meeting opposing it!" - and the amazing reception that the team
got at Eden Gardens for their first match back in November 1991.

He had woken up early in the morning to watch the Perth Test - "Monty bowled beautifully, didn't he? I can't understand why they didn't play him earlier" - and scoffs at the suggestion that standards have declined in recent years. "You have great players in every generation," he says. "Those like Lara and Tendulkar are every bit as good as [Graeme] Pollock and [Viv] Richards."

There's a wistful sigh when he talks of the team that he captained to a 4-0 rout of Australia back in 1969-70. "We had some amazing players," he said. "Most importantly, we had some great allrounders, guys like [Mike] Proctor, [Tiger] Lance and Eddie Barlow." Almost as an afterthought, he says with a laugh, "Even you could have captained the team, we had so much quality."

As we sip our tea, he enquires about Jagmohan Dalmiya, before shaking his head and saying: "You should know when to quit." And as we're about to take his leave, the phone rings. It's Jonty Rhodes, enquiring about his health. "Makhaya [Ntini] also called me," he says. "As for Jonty, he's a top man."

So's Bacher, with his love of the game still all too evident. The difference between him and the power-hungry businessmen threatening to take over the game couldn't be starker. As we leave, I glance at the portico. Two small plastic cricket bats lie on a shelf. He had talked of how he still loves to play and watch the game with his grandsons, 10 and
7. Who knows? The Bacher years in South African cricket may not yet be over.