“Merry Christmas!” said Santa, offering me a
sweet from his Christmas stocking.

The diminutive Santa was, I judged, about six years old and was accompanied by an elder brother as he spread Christmas cheer among the crowd in the Wasim Akram stand. It was the Third Test between England and Pakistan, 17 years since Pakistan had been able to host a home Test against England and the locals were certainly making us welcome. During the tea interval we were mobbed by people wanting selfies, to the extent that I wondered whether we had been mistaken for someone famous. Did my husband’s hat lead them to believe he is Geoffrey Boycott?

Full disclosure: I am not a cricket fan. I have on occasion accompanied my cricket-loving husband to Lord’s or the Oval, armed with a good book and a picnic to keep myself entertained. Travelling to Pakistan was a whole other level of commitment, but after three years of staying in the UK due to Covid restrictions I had cabin fever. So off we went on the understanding that we spent one day at the cricket and the rest of the week exploring
the sights of Sindh. It was a good choice. Not only was the family day out atmosphere at the cricket ground so enjoyable that I read very little of my book, the sights were to prove
well worth seeing.

Returning to Karachi for some city sightseeing on our final day, we started at the Maritime Museum, located in a public park. An impromptu cricket match was underway, with the path from the entrance acting as the wicket. They take their cricket very seriously in Karachi.