PAKISTAN NOTEBOOK

Karachi is a notoriously lively city, with gun battles on the streets a daily occurrence — so it seems only sensible to stay in the comfort and safety of the Sind Club, a grand institution built during British rule in the centre of the town. It was here that my travelling companion, Charles Alexander, and I watched the royal wedding in Urdu in company with elderly members. I blubbed as we joined in the hymns, but when it was all over it did seem odd that there had been no kiss. Ah, we said to each other sagely, they’re determined not to recreate the Diana moment. Later consultation with London revealed that there had indeed been plenty of kissing but it had been edited out locally on decency grounds.

The purpose of our journey is to research a book on Pakistan cricket. Qamar Ahmed, the well-known Pakistan cricketer (now a cricket writer) who has the momentous distinction of having got out each one of the five famous Mohammed brothers in the course of his first-class career, took me round. We had an exhilarating net with the members of the Karachi gymkhana before visiting Moin Khan’s cricketing academy, which opens formally next month. Moin Khan was wonderful; grateful for his brilliant career rather than arrogant about it. With people like him, Pakistani cricket has a very promising future.