Taking it on the chin

In his latest diary entry for BBC Sport Online, Ian Bell reports on a bruising training regime being encountered at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

After a gruelling 20-plus hours in the air to Sydney, then travel across Australia to Adelaide, there was no rest for the wicked.

No sooner had we landed than we were sent off on a five kilometre run along the beach.

Running on sand is hard work at the best of times but as a first fitness task it gave us all a glimpse of the type of programme we could expect from now on.

Welcome to Adelaide

I think there will be little free time and plenty of hard work, but the weather is just right for acclimatising - warm, but not hot, and very pleasant.

The Academy facilities out here are very impressive, they are by far and away the best I have come across.

The whole culture seems to revolve around sport with the locals involved in sporting activities in a big way.

Punch drunk

There is no doubt that this environment encourages a positive attitude to training - perhaps this is why Australian teams are doing so well.

The hardest sessions of the week are the boxing lessons - these are led by an ex-boxer called 'Crouchy'.

There were a few red faces and shaky legs after the first introduction to his gym.

Ian Chappell: Our cricket 'guru'

He keeps telling us 'it's only getting harder' - help!

His training circuits definitely got us going through our paces - doing exercises until you couldn't move any more.

But after you had finished you felt very good - at least until the next time - the punch bags are certainly being hit harder.

Our first net sessions were led by former Australian captain Ian Chappell and concentrated on the 'art of batting' against both spin and pace bowling.

This was really helpful as he gave us some good advice and tips on playing in Australian conditions, where the ball bounces much more than in England.

Sing when you're winning

The 'Millennium' man

He also had some 'interesting' stories to tell.

Breaks and time off have been few and far between but I'm sure we will get time later to see more of Australia.

The one evening off so far we spent very pleasantly as we managed to get tickets to see our English 'legend' Robbie Williams.

It was the first time most of us had seen him in concert and he didn't disappoint. It was a great performance, a great night out and a chance to relax.

So far, the work has been tough but very enjoyable.

Must sign off now - I've got to get my washing out of the tumble dryer.

From Adelaide,
Ian Bell