Heavy dew, flying insects - and tear gas!

Everything in Pakistan has been excellent, literally from the moment we arrived, the odd cloud of tear gas notwithstanding! Obviously much has been made of the fact that it is 13 years since an England team was last here on a full tour, but everyone has gone out of their way to make us feel very welcome and have shown how pleased they are to see us back again.

Away from the cricket for just a moment, the food and quality of the hotels has been outstanding. I have not visited Pakistan since the World Cup of 1996, and there is a noticeable improvement in conditions even since then. Our comfort level is high, without any of the old problems associated with touring this part of the world - at least so far, but we know there will be an upset stomach or two before we leave!

Practice facilities have been brilliant, and there has been a ready supply of willing net bowlers. The weather has been a little different from what I hear it has been like at home. Karachi was red hot, with temperatures reaching 38 to 40 degrees, but the real problem was the humidity. You literally just had to walk out of the hotel and you broke into a sweat. As far as the preparation for the one-day series is concerned, it simply could not have gone better, and then came the first one-day international.

That has to rate as the best England victory with which I have ever been associated. When the opposition gets over 300, and Abdur Razzaq had just played the innings of his life by belting our bowlers all over the park - and a bit beyond - you walk off feeling just a mite apprehensive. But we sat down, looked at the game plan and decided how we were going to go about the task.

Eighty to ninety off the first fifteen overs with wickets in hand was what we wanted, with ninety off the last ten. Even with wickets in hand that would have been a stiff ask, but we felt we could do it. Apart from losing two early wickets, everything went better than we had anticipated. Obviously "Freddie" Flintoff was outstanding and deserved the man of the match award, but the contributions of the other three - Nasser Hussain, Graeme Hick and Graham Thorpe - should not be underestimated. They all got fifties and Thorpey was particularly impressive the way he helped Freddie through his innings.

The one down side of the whole fantastic occasion was my own dismissal. In cricket there are always the odd decisions that go for and against you and, quite rightly, we are brought up to accept the umpire's decision. This time, what disappointed me was not that I felt it was a bad decision. I accept that as one of those things, even though I did not think I hit it. However, it was the length of time taken to come to a decision that suggested to me that the umpire was influenced more by the appeal than what he saw or heard. I was disappointed at the time, but that was soon forgotten in the thrill of the team performance.

The win in Karachi really set us up and ignited the one-day series and the tour as a whole. They began as favourites, and rightly so as World Cup finalists, playing in their own back yard, but we turned them over. It was brilliant for our confidence, it set them back a bit, but not so much that they could not recover in Lahore. We were disappointed with our batting there, for we could and should have done better than we did. Remember, though, that this time a dew-laden ball did not hamper their spinners. I know all about Saqlain Mushtaq, my Surrey partner, and realise that in him and Mushtaq Ahmed Pakistan have two of the world's finest spinners. Never mind, we tried to keep a sense of proportion in defeat and in victory, and had to accept that while we had enjoyed the better of conditions in Karachi, Pakistan were favoured in Lahore.

A word about those conditions. They were undoubtedly the most uncomfortable in which I have played. The dew still had an effect, if not as significant as in Karachi, but the flying insects more than made up for that. It seemed that the lights attracted the entire insect population of Pakistan to the ground and, once there, they were unbearable for the players on the field. That is why we had to wear sunglasses for the partial protection they offered, while even Freddie Flintoff said he was not hungry at the end of the game because he had swallowed so many mosquitoes!

There were other problems in Rawlpindi. I remember my father talking about student riots and tear gas when he toured Pakistan as a player. This was a case of history repeating itself, even if these were more a case of people trying to get into the ground rather than riots. Such was the interest in the game that would decide the series that everyone wanted to get in to the ground.

The loss of the toss was disappointing, but not as disappointing as our batting, once again. The tear gas drifting across the ground did not help our concentration. It was perhaps significant that we lost wickets in the over immediately after both interruptions - mine included. It was certainly unpleasant with the gas affecting eyes and throat but, whatever the distractions, we should have scored more than we did. It was never enough to really test as talented a batting side as Pakistan, even if we did bowl a lot better than we batted.

After such a stirring start to the one-day series, it was particularly disappointing that we lost 2-1. Now we have to pick ourselves up and look ahead to the Test series where it would be good to reverse the outcome. It will not be easy, but at least we should be able to concentrate on the cricket without interference from heavy dew, flying insects - and tear gas.