Perth

On the eve of the fourth day's play in the Perth test, I'm way too excited to sleep. 8 wickets to win. Five of those wickets need to be Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, Symonds and Gilcrist.

India are too close to not hope. And Australia have pulled off the impossible too many times (three wickets in five balls?) for me to let myself hope.

If I can't take the pressure 10000 miles away, how are the team coping? The good ones, the ones who've been around a while - Kumble, Sachin, Rahul, Saurav, Laxman, even Dhoni - they'd be immersing themselves in rituals. Sportsmen are called superstitious, but more accurately, they are ritualistic. The regimen anchors the spirit. Keeps the butterflies and demons from taking over. The same thing works on the field..adjusting the top of the pad, tapping the bat to the ground while taking guard, bouncing the tennis ball before serving...they work the same way. They help focus the spirit and mind on the task at hand.

It's harder for the less experienced players to stay calm because their regimen/ rituals are less well established. It's hardest on us watchers; we don't have rituals to anchor us or any task at hand to focus on.