Post Card from Sharjah: `Surfing, shopping and horseracing'

I have enjoyed my stay in Dubai so far as there is more entertainment available to keep us busy and going out for a meal is a lot easier than when we were in India.

It is my fourth game and the cricket has been a good learning curve. I've only had two knocks and have not done anything substantial yet but hopefully things will fall into place with the next one. Playing against the Indians and Paki's is always a challenge especially with the 4 quick Paki's, Wasim and his gang, reversing it towards the middle and end of the innings, just when we are trying to push the score along.

The hospitality and facilities here in Sharjah are very good. The nets are always true and it's great to have 4 nets available, where we can have throw-downs after our sessions of facing the bowlers.

The wickets here in Sharjah suit my style of play more than the Indian wickets did as the ball seems to be coming onto the bat a little quicker which negates the slow-turners of the sub-continent.

The Dubai Shopping Festival is on at the moment and shopping and general sightseeing is the order of the day for most of the guys. The prices of goods here vary according to where you shop, the modern centres being more expensive than the older souks. If you happen to find your way down here one day, a tip I have for you is...take the price on offer, half it and then negotiate another 20% discount and you've probably got yourself a reasonable deal.

We have had a few enjoyable evenings out and have frequented a few restaurants and watering holes with the super-sixers. These are the fellas who are unfortunate not to have their better halves with them.

Last night a few of us went to the Dubai World Cup horse race and socialized with the who's who of the horseracing world. It was a formal dinner-suit function and mixing it with the race-goers in the members' enclosure meant we had to string a few of our finest threads together to look the part. Hopefully we did not disappoint.

Formal betting is prohibited but I managed to lose myself 10 dirums to Richard Snell but made it back on the Fizz who managed to bet on a horse in the penultimate race that wasn't even featured in the starting line-up, let alone being scratched.

Today we went down to the Kempinski hotel complex and mellowed out on the beach. Striker and myself tested our hand at windsurfing and were taught some valuable lessons. One, balance is definitely essential, calm water is better than the choppy waves and wind is necessary too. The resort has only been open for 18 months but is a great venue for holiday to relax with a great beach, loads of water sports and a pool-side bar area which generally lends itself to a good chill-out time.

Time to hit the sack, enjoy the rest of the cricket. I'll leave you with our racing chant; Go you good thing, go!