What was all the fuss about, Ian? (4 April 1999)

4 April 1999

What was all the fuss about, Ian?

Angus Fraser

It has been 10 years since my last adventure touring this part of the world with England, which some might say makes me extremely fortunate. It is, however, my first visit to Pakistan and, though Ian Botham described it as a place to which he wouldn't even send his mother-in-law, the experience has been a pleasant surprise.

Our hotel is palatial, the rooms first-class and the food and service as good as anywhere. The practice facilities at the Gaddafi Stadium have also been excellent and I'm beginning to wonder what all the fuss has been about on previous tours. Yet there is no doubt that a couple of dodgy umpiring decisions can change a player's view of things.

Apart from the heat, the dirt and the poverty, my first impression as we drove from Lahore Airport was how English everything appears to be. Most of the advertising hoardings and shop frontages are in English - Mark Ealham was salivating at the McDonalds sign - and the majority of the local population speak or understand the language.

Transport in Lahore is an experience to behold, the only rule being that you give way to a bigger vehicle. Sitting in the vacuum of our minibus is an odd sensation amid the chaos taking place outside. I have yet to see a vehicle without a dent.

Judging by the amount of cricket shown on Pakistani television and being played on any spare piece of ground, it is no surprise that this country continues to produce so many exciting young cricketers.

The love and hunger for the game is unbelievable. Advertising for the World Cup is enormous here, using players from all round the world with the punchline: "It doesn't get any bigger than this." I've yet to see a single commercial on British TV.

As Pakistan is an alcohol-free country the evenings have been very quiet and most of us have been using the last week to catch up on some sleep. However, we were kept up one night until the early hours watching the thrilling last day of the West Indies v Australia Test match in Barbados. This was as good as cricket gets. Lara was absolutely awesome, a genius, and you could hear the cheers along our corridor when he hit the winning runs.

Thursday saw our first practice game, against Lahore Gymkhana, following two days of nets. It proved to be a good initial workout for us, the highlight being a frightening display of strong hitting by Andrew Flintoff, who scored a hundred.

Andrew played for the opposition and, sadly, it was me he tucked into most. Following through was like running head on into a golf driving range. Four times I went for the maximum and Goughy thoughtfully suggested we needed a crane to carry my bowling figures over at the end of the game.

Friday was a day off so we took the opportunity to visit the market with a view to buying some rugs, carpets, or whatever the salesmen call them. Cricketers have a terrible vice of buying traditional souvenirs as mementoes of touring abroad. Only when you get them home do you find your wife doesn't like them or they don't go with the curtains, so up in the attic they go with all the other junk.

The best example of this happened to Jack Russell. He had a dining table made to measure here several years ago only to find that when he got home planning permission had been refused on an extension to his house and the room he had in mind for it wasn't big enough to fit the table in. Fortunately for him it now takes pride of place at his art gallery in Chipping Sodbury.

Haggling over the price here is an art in itself and we have found an absolute beauty in Alan Mullally. By the time he had finished, I almost felt sorry for the vendor. I, of course, ended up buying a rug, along with Alan and a few others. I wonder what Dubai has to offer next week.

As you can gather, things are going well and the team spirit is high, though the withdrawal of Athers with his bad back was a big blow. We're all very disappointed for him and we wish him a quick recovery, but the way his phone has been ringing ever since, I don't think he will be short of things to do during the World Cup. As things stand at the moment, they sound more lucrative than playing.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)