It is the high point of India’s ugly tour of Australia four years ago. The teams have landed in Perth. Before the Test, they go for their respective group dinners. Turns out they are both looking to eat at Gogo’s Madras Curry. They won’t have it any other way.

So Gogo – Govardhan Govindaraj, a chef of Indian origin who now is the official team chef during Test matches in Australia – creates a temporary partition in his restaurant, which is actually an old house on Beaufort Road in Mt Lawley. One living room has one team, and the courtyard the other. The blinds are brought down, and the restaurant is shut to the public. Word spreads, news channels and reporters get a whiff, and want to know if the teams are kissing and making up at Gogo’s Madras Curry.

Inside, Gogo is worried by the awkwardness of the situation. The staff continue to serve the teams, and Gogo calls up his Western Australian friend, Justin Langer, who comes and sits alternately with both teams to ease some of the awkwardness. It’s a time when the two teams can’t come together on any issue, but Gogo’s food has brought them under one roof, even if there is not much camaraderie. Anil Kumble, India’s captain, later left behind for Gogo the ball with which he took his 600th wicket, during India's win in Perth.

You can understand the Indian team wanting to eat Indian food, but it’s the Aussies who love Gogo more. Walk into the restaurant and you feel you have entered a cricket museum. Steve Waugh has left his book here with a signature saying, “Thanks Gogo for the best lamb shanks.” John Buchanan has left a long message. Glenn McGrath’s boots with a message, “Ooh aah Glenn McGrath.” Wasim Akram played his last Test here in Perth; his captain’s cap is here. Akram swears by Gogo’s food.

During the 1999-2000 tour, Pakistan were in Australia and they were fasting. They needed proper food in the evenings. Gogo had just catered for a swimming championship in Perth. WACA called him up. He has cooked for the Australian team at every home Test since then. There is a bond between Gogo and the Australian team now. The tired exhausted players come back to the change room, and shout, “Gogo, feed me.” His lamb shanks are the celebration dish after major wins. After the match Gogo can be found in the changing rooms. His closeness with the Australian players, he feels, left the touring Sri Lankans not too enamoured.

It may have taken over two weeks but we have finally witnessed an English victory in the Emirates. Sadly it didn’t come from our cricket side that had a proud recent record before a crazy two hours on the fourth afternoon. Our English victory came in the shape of Robert Rock who was victorious in the Abu Dhabi golf tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The day out at the golf was a bonus that has ensured my tour ended on a positive note. I wasn’t the only one watching another sport to forget about the disappointment of the cricket. As I watched Tiger Woods just miss a bunker from the fourth tee, I found myself surrounded by half the Sky Sports commentary team. David “Bumble” Lloyd, always keen on a chat, quipped, “There are worse ways to spend a day off than this!”

I certainly wasn’t in a positive mood whilst watching our chase. Watching from the stands as wicket after wicket fell, you had a sinking feeling that this was going to go down in folklore as one of England’s worst displays. I expected a backlash after the Dubai performance, which Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar gave us, but sadly, our batsmen let us down again. It’s a strange feeling watching your side capitulate under pressure, and by the time Jimmy Anderson was caught on the boundary to end the misery, I knew it was time to go home.

I’ve left the UAE with mixed feelings. On one hand the Abu Dhabi match was everything I look for in an overseas Test (minus the England second-innings collapse, of course). The Test itself couldn’t have been much more dramatic, and to be played out in front of a large number of Pakistani expats made it feel like a proper sporting event.

On the other hand I am more than happy not to be returning to Dubai Sports City for the final match. Having time to reflect and look back after the success of the time spent in Abu Dhabi, Dubai really wasn’t a great spectator experience. Perhaps the next match, which starts on a Friday, will have more support to create some sort of an atmosphere in what is undoubtedly one of my least favourite international venues. It’s a shame a match couldn’t have been scheduled in Sharjah, where Pakistan traditionally get good support.

For the time being for me it is back to the 5.30am alarm call and my widescreen television for the rest of this tour. Perhaps England will finally win a Test on this trip. The odds must have improved, given that one chap I met on the flight home has just completed his tenth Test match overseas spread over 14 years and has yet to see England win!

Perhaps that is what makes being an England fan so great. Even if the team wins, loses or draws, we keep coming back for more. Watching your cricket side abroad is a great experience. If there is anyone reading this that is thinking of doing it, go ahead and do it. Even if your team’s top order keeps collapsing you’ll have no regrets!

The last few days summed up why I watch the England side abroad.

Not only has the cricket picked up from an English point of view, but perhaps more importantly there is also a feeling in the air that the tour has finally started. After the disappointment of Dubai and its fairly soulless surrounds, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium has provided three brilliant days of spectator happiness.

The stadium, albeit in the middle of a desert (like everything here), is close enough to a major highway to make it reasonably accessible for both locals and tourists. With its grassy banks and seated ends, one covered and one open to the elements, all preferences are catered for. Happily the English support has respected local customs asking us to keep our shirts on during the cricket.

I mentioned in the previous update that word was the weekend days of Friday and Saturday would be well attended. By close of day three, the first weekend day, the ground must have been at least two-thirds full. From a cricket purist point of view, it was a joy to see the thousands of Pakistani cricket fans streaming into the ground throughout the day, taking advantage of the authorities’ brilliant decision to open the gates for free throughout the Test.

It is pretty clear to me that Test cricket is alive and well. If you play a match based around a weekend and make the ticketing simple and affordable, people will turn up in numbers.

The banter between the England fans and our own players has also picked up thanks to the development of the tour as well as the arrival of several dozen supporters for the last two matches of the series.

Now, we England fans pride ourselves on being pretty up to speed with the players in our side. We chant for them, we encourage them and we are even seen on occasions celebrating or commiserating with them after a Test. Before the first Test started a number of us decided to gatecrash the final net session and have a chat with some of the players. One member of the Barmy Army who will remain nameless (but can be found wearing the full Union Jack attire) decided it would be a good idea to make the effort to chat with who he thought was the Barmy Army favourite Matty Prior. In front of several shell-shocked witnesses, he cried some words of encouragement towards the England wicketkeeper, before realising too late it was Jonathan Trott!

Prior already has his own personal cheerleader in the Barmy Army - a stalwart who goes by the nickname Deco. For the past few tours Prior has been greeted on a daily basis with shouts of “Morning Matty!” from Deco across Test grounds all over the world. Prior will always wave back, loving the support he receives from his No. 1 fan. On one occasion in Adelaide the cry came about an hour into the morning session – Matty turned towards the stand where the shout had emanated and gestured where an imaginary watch would be on his wrist, before putting his hands on his hips suggesting “Where have you been!”

After the Dubai incident, our nameless supporter has since adopted a similar “Morning Trotty!” greeting which has gone down so well that the rest of the players have been seen clapping and laughing along with the running joke – all whilst the game is in progress!

Even umpire Steve Davis has joined in with the banter, raising his hat to us as Billy, our famous trumpeter, played the Barmy Army’s own version of “Waltzing Matilda” for Australia Day. If only he knew the words we sung…..

With Pakistani four down overnight, the promise of a four-day victory beckons. If we pull it off, the celebrations tomorrow will surely be both inside and outside of the hotel bar’s happy hour.

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

It’s the eve of the second Test and I cannot wait for it to start. We’ve tried our best to get the most out of this extended break between matches but after five days of non-cricket related activities, I’m ready to spend my time in the UAE on the grass banks of the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium hopefully watching a famous English victory.

This feeling is reflected among my fellow supporters – slightly twitchy from the lack of cricket, and ever so slightly uninspired by our surrounds. It’s not that we aren’t enjoying being on tour - the takings in the hotel bar reflect that - it’s just that the UAE has never been on any of our “must-visit-places-before-we-die” lists.

For many, Dubai, just like England’s batting, was a bit of a disappointment. The ground itself was comfortable enough, but like so many new purpose-built sporting arenas, it was in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by incomplete buildings, the place had a slightly soulless feel to it. It was a world away from Adelaide or the Antigua Recreation Ground in St Johns, where people can walk up to the ground from the city centre as they please. I guess everywhere needs to start somewhere, and perhaps in time Dubai Sports City can build a history of its own – after all this was only the third Test it has hosted.

Abu Dhabi promises much more. The match starts on a Wednesday, meaning the likelihood of more Pakistani support over the weekend. The match is free entry for all and with Pakistan one-up in the series, I expect more backing for the “home” side. We’ve also found some more worthwhile activities to do away from the hotel’s happy hours, including a trip to our favourite Sheikh’s mosque, which is among the top ten largest mosques in the world. The ground, the main road through town and the mosque - the way everything is named after him, anyone would think he built the place.

Our time has also been spent discussing whether England can turn things around. The level of confidence has definitely dropped after the ten- wicket defeat in Dubai. Many of us believe our side can replicate Boxing Day 2010, where England bounced back from defeat in Perth in the most memorable of manners.

In the meantime I must dash. I have a date with a push bike and a formula one racetrack. I never thought I’d say that on tour...

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

If I am honest with myself I secretly hoped the Dubai Test would be wrapped up inside four days. With just a day’s build-up in Dubai before the Test started and a short taxi ride booked down to Abu Dhabi the day after what was scheduled to be day five, I considered the chance to have time to explore the sprawling metropolis a bonus.

However, what I did not wish for was the toothless, formless batting display from England on the third day that reminded me of being at Sabina Park, Jamaica, back in 2009.

We will always support the England team wherever we go, but sometimes watching batsmen after batsmen gift their wicket to the opposition is pretty hard to stomach. I had thought England would repeat their efforts in Brisbane, where they trailed heavily after the first innings and batted properly second time around. KP’s dismissal, caught on the boundary for 0, summed up a pretty grim few days inside the Dubai Sports City Stadium.

But to me more worrying than the form of England’s top six, was the lack of supporters for Pakistan inside the ground. Without the thousand or so English out here in the desert, the ground would have been empty throughout most of the Test.

Having the time to explore, we took a metro on Friday all the way to the north of Dubai, to a place by the coast called Palm Diera. Here, we found all the Pakistani cricket fans that the PCB hoped would fill the stadiums in the UAE. It was a sight I imagine repeated across cities like Multan or Faisalabad - a barren patch of land where over half a dozen games of cricket were being played out simultaneously with some intensity.

I walked over to the game being played out nearest to us. There was an umpire, a scorer (naturally sat in the comfort of a wheelbarrow) a set of stumps made out of bricks and a boundary marked out by a line drawn in the sand. This was a different side to Dubai than you see on the television; migrant workers from the local fish markets were taking time out between shifts to play cricket.

I spoke to a young guy who had sledged us on arrival with catcalls of “Saeed Ajmal, doosra, doosra!”about why he wasn’t in the ground supporting his heroes. In broken English he explained that he and his friends were too busy working and sending money home to their families in Pakistan and couldn’t justify a day’s lost wages to watch the cricket.

And I guess therein lies the problem. The interest in Test cricket is definitely there – they admitted to watching every highlights programme they could. They knew how many runs Misbah-ul-Haq had made recently and that Umar Gul looks fitter now than ever. They knew Kevin Pietersen shouldn’t have hit that careless shot so early on in his innings and that Ian Bell was struggling to pick Ajmal’s doosra. Unlike the English fans who are here in the UAE on holiday, these fans are here working.

Since the weekend days here are Friday and Saturday, perhaps the authorities could look at scheduling the games to start around these days as opposed toTuesday? After all, if England bat as naively in Abu Dhabi as they did here, even a Wednesday start might not give adequate time for the expat workers to make the most of the time off they have.

My prediction prior to the series was that England would struggle to get going during this Test series. I also envisaged that we’d win in Abu Dhabi. I may have already got the scoreline incorrect, but if the rest follows suit, at least we will avoid a series defeat.

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

Day one of a Test series is always an exciting time. In Dubai the feeling among the several dozen stalwart England supporters was slightly different to the usual “let’s act like a child on Christmas day morning because we are watching Test cricket abroad again” syndrome that I’ve become accustom to over the years.

I wrote in my first update about the recent passing of one of our own, George “The Podge” Summerside.

The first time I met Podge was back in 2007 on the outfield of the SSC Cricket Ground in Colombo. I’d manage to convince a couple of security men to let me into the ground despite the fact the gates weren’t open for some time yet. It was early AM; at least two hours before the start of play. Sunil, my favourite tuk-tuk driver in the whole of Sri Lanka, had dropped me off at the ground particularly early in order for me to beat the rush for prime “flagwatch” position. Flagwatch is a race against time. The mission is to get your flag in a position where every time the TV camera focusses in on a batsman concentrating hard on the bowler running in, your flag magically appears in the background, giving the watching world a view of your team or town.
Basically, anywhere just behind the bowler’s arm guarantees coverage every other over.

Podge was the master of this. Everywhere he went, his flag went. And without fail it was always behind the bowler’s arm. Despite my rather heavy head, thanks to a night on the local beer, I remember our first encounter like it was yesterday. He shook my hand firmly, before commenting in his unmistakeable broad northern English accent that “I deserved to steal his spot seeing as I was up so bright and early!” He laughed loudly, shaking my hand again before slipping a few rupees to one of the Sri Lankan lads on groundstaff to look after his flag until he got back from his breakfast!

From Ahmedabad to Antigua, a Test match featuring the English wouldn’t be complete without hundreds of flags being erected on fences, walls and trees. With the kind permission of Podge’s’ family, one of his closest touring buddies, Kev, has bought the “Podgy Roker” flag with him to Dubai as a fitting tribute to one of England’s finest followers. It was quite an emotional sight to see his infamous flag blowing in the wind today, naturally in prime flagwatch position.

The time was 2pm and back in the UK some four hours behind us in the UAE, his funeral was starting. After some discussions with the stadium management a message was read out over the PA system informing all spectators of his untimely passing and that they were invited to join in a minute’s applause celebrating his life. As the whole ground stood to applaud a fellow cricket lover, our very own batsman, Matty Prior and Graeme Swann, showed their respect by looking over to us and clapping too. Several of the Pakistani cricketers also joined in.

Only in a sport as magical as cricket would something like this happen during play. An international match briefly interrupted to celebrate the life of someone who loved the game. After all, you’d have to love the game as much as Podge did to visit places as far flung as Georgetown and Chittagong.

I wasn’t there but I knew he was – after all, that famous flag kept appearing on my TV screen.

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

We’ve finally arrived. After months of anticipation, research and hype, the England cricket fans have checked into our Dubai hotels – many of us a few dirhams worse off thanks to the lure of cheap alcohol in the airport’s duty-free. The best news from the first 24 hours in Test cricket’s newest destination has been the successful deal struck between a few of the Barmy Army lads and our hotel manager to lower the beer prices in the bar. Twenty-five dirhams a beer might not be the cheapest tipple on the international circuit, but it’s still cheaper than anything located during last winter’s open wallet surgery tour that was Australia.

After a few reunion beers last night we soon decided it was time to warm up the vocal chords and have a sing-song. Several minutes in, a local guy got up from his seat at the bar and walked up to us. Fearing he was going to ask us to quieten down, we lowered the volume. He instantly looked disappointed, before encouraging us to start singing at full volume again.

Now everyone's attention has switched to the first Test. After a tour round the world's biggest building site, also known as Dubai Sports City, we retired to the local golf-course restaurant for the traditional pre-series supporter selection meeting. The general feeling that England would go into the opening game with the usual seven batsmen-four bowler line-up was confirmed after a chat with BBC’s Test Match Special commentator, Jonathan Agnew. Word got round that England were having afternoon nets which a dozen or so of us ambushed, getting the opportunity to speak with Aggers and a few of the England backroom staff to get some inside information on the make-up of the final XI.

Andy Flower seemed pleased to see a few supporters milling around the nets at the ICC Global Academy. He said he expected the majority of supporters would choose Sri Lanka over the UAE. After thanking us for making the journey out to support the team, he told us to “make sure our voices are heard during the series”. Don’t worry, coach – we will.

My feeling is that this might just be a tougher series for England than many believe. Perhaps the time since England last played a Test that has clouded my confidence in what is, undoubtedly, the best squad in Test cricket. After all, it isn’t very often that an England side has a gap of four months since its last Test. It wouldn’t surprise me if England take a while to get going here.

Pakistan have been in confident form since England last played red-ball cricket and the first Test in Dubai might just be the time they need to strike. If they don’t, England might run away with the series just like last winter in Australia and the summer at home against the Indians.

Prediction from me? 1-0 to England with an Abu Dhabi victory sandwiched between the games in Dubai.

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

As it began to drizzle over Buffalo Park in East London, Jacques Kallis stood in a circle with six blazer-clad schoolboys. At first they were reluctant to say too much, but he prompted them. “Any questions, or is everyone too shy?”

One of the boys piped up. “How much of a role does fitness play now?”

Kallis was in his element. He puffed his chest out and spoke to them in the voice of a gentle older brother. “You guys are playing three times the amount of cricket that I played, so fitness does play a role,” he said. “Gym work becomes very important to prevent injury. There’s no shortcut, you’ve got to put in the hard work and you’ll see the results. Mentally, it’s good to do that kind of stuff. It does help your other cricket skills.”

Another asked a braver question. “How did it feel getting run out in Paarl?”

Kallis shrugged. “It’s part of the game. In one-day cricket, you accept it and move on. It’s almost about trust – like with everything in life, you’ve got to trust your partner.”

And another ... “Who’s the fastest bowler you’ve faced?”

No hesitation. “Shaun Tait.”

“And the best spinner?”

“Definitely, Shane Warne.”

“And what about the best bowler?”

“Wasim Akram. He could swing the ball both ways, with the new and the old ball and he had a good bumper too.”

Whenever I inform a friend, family member or work colleague that I’m touring again with England there is always one question everyone asks. Who exactly are the people who manage to find the time and money to watch cricket overseas? It is a question that is repeated by the locals I’ve encountered in cricket grounds and bars across the world. After years of touring experience I believe the average England fan can be bracketed into three separate groups of people:

The tour group
These tend to be people of a slightly more “mature” age group. Quite often they are long-time retired folk spending their pensions and savings on watching England overseas. Undoubtedly, they will be staying in four- or five-star hotels, from where they are ferried to and from the ground in air-conditioned buses in the company of a retired English cricketer. They can be identified with relative ease thanks to the matching tour polo shirt with socks and sandals combination.

The budget traveller
Can be aged anything between 18 and 80. They are keen on doing everything, whether it be hostels, food or match tickets, as cheaply as possible and aren’t afraid to broadcast that fact. Sometimes they can be on a “sabbatical” or out of work completely, and as of such are at the cricket whilst on a longer travel break to other parts of the world. The original Barmy Army, christened by the Australian media in 1994-95, were by in large in this bracket.

The independents
Ah, it’s my turn! The “independent” tourist tends to be someone who watches England abroad as regularly as they possibly can, using all available annual leave from work to satisfy their desire to watch England play in as many international cricket venues as possible. Will always book their own flights and accommodation without the help of a tour operator and as such can be found staying in anything from cheap dormitory hostels to mid-range hotels, depending on the country being toured. More often than not, the “independent” is identified thanks to the shabby, suntan-lotion stained t-shirts they are wearing, proudly advertising a past tour.

One of the best things about watching the England side abroad is cementing friendships with fellow supporters that have been created from years of touring. I met my current travel companion for the UAE in Kandy back in 2007. We happened to be staying at the same Sri Lankan guesthouse and have been sharing rooms, flights and late-night beers ever since. A 50-something, recently retired prison officer – “Union Dave” has become a permanent fixture on tour, often picked up by television cameras thanks to his slightly flamboyant dress sense. You guessed it – he wears garments coated entirely of the Union Jack flag! What started as a charity fundraiser has turned into a tour identity. Although we come from entirely different backgrounds and generations, cricket brings us together once or twice a year to share some great experiences.

And that is what watching England is all about. There are young people, older people, males and females. No matter what the subtle differences might be, we are all united together thanks to the common interest of supporting Andrew Strauss and the rest of the team.

****

Sadly, on a rather sombre note, I’d like to finish this entry paying my respect to the late George “The Podge” Summerside who passed away last weekend. “Podge” was one of the ultimate independent travellers with both England and Durham and had built up a wealth of information on the many places he’d watched cricket around the world. He was always willing to share this knowledge with fellow fans and the messages left across social network sites this weekend have shown just how much he will be missed on tour. As someone who had watched his beloved Durham play in the UAE, a new destination for the rest of us, his insight will be missed now more than ever.

RIP Podge, the Barmy Army will raise a drink or two for you next week.

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

If only Test matches could melt into ODIs as easily as butter does on a hot stove. From a solid, steady, substantial base, similar to Test cricket, into an easy-flowing, fluid river of runs that the limited-overs game has come to represent with no mindset shift required.

Players often talk about the importance of adjusting to the different formats, be it in run-rate, bowling length or mental terms. In truth, they are not the only ones who need to change their outlook. Fans, journalists, scorers and ground staff all have to make the turnaround as well. They have to start thinking in immediate terms, minimise their contextual analysis and gear up for a smash and grab.

Luckily, there were a couple of days to do that in. In this case, a weekend in Cape Town.

It was two weeks after my 18th birthday when I found myself in a rum shack outside the old Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. I was on a paradise island, happily supping rum punch whilst singing songs late into the night about Graham Thorpe’s batting and Matthew Hoggard’s bowling. My England cricket heroes had just wrapped up a three-day victory against West Indies to take the series 3-0, and here I was, right in the thick of the celebrations.

I was instantly hooked. What started as a holiday of a lifetime has turned into an expensive and time-consuming passion. Three separate trips to India, a full Ashes tour, a month in South Africa and Sri Lanka, plus another tour to the Caribbean – my love for watching England play cricket abroad hasn’t wavered one bit since celebrating that Hoggard hat-trick back in 2004.

Whether it be several thousand of us celebrating an Ashes series victory in Sydney or just several dozen of us making the stupidly long trip from Chennai to Mohali to watch a re-scheduled Test played out in wintery fog, watching England is always great fun.

It’s not always just about the cricket. Every tour gives the chance to visit some places that without cricket I might never have done. New Year’s Day on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, a ferry ride through Sydney harbour. All of these experiences are bonuses of watching international cricket.

Getting away from the tourist traps and glamorous destinations is just as fun though. Cricket gives the chance to visit some seriously remote places the average traveller wouldn’t dream of visiting. Earlier this year I found myself in Nagpur to watch England’s opening game of the World Cup. To be met with warm smiles, handshakes and cries of “Welcome to Nagpur!” from random shopkeepers and tuk-tuk drivers whilst exploring the city’s streets will stay with me forever.

The last time England played a Test in a new country was way back in 2003. The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was the setting for an England side, containing the likes of Rikki Clarke and former captain Nasser Hussain, which limped to a seven-wicket win against a fledgling Bangladeshi Test side. Fast forward eight years and the new world No. 1 Test side is preparing to play a three-match series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

On paper Abu Dhabi and Dubai don’t quite capture the imagination in the same way a week in Multan or Faisalabad does. There will be no tuk-tuk journeys, there will be no street food curries and there definitely won’t be any horses and carts to avoid whilst crossing the road! But a trip to the Middle East, spending a few dirhams watching the world’s best sport is still a pretty awesome way to start a New Year.

For now, it’s time to forget where we could be playing and start preparing for the tour. I can’t wait to touch down in cricket’s newest destination and tell you all about it.

Richard Kemp is in the UAE on his ninth cricket tour with the England side. Since his first tour in 2004, his love for the game has made him max out several credit cards visiting five Test-playing nations, including three tours of India and all five of last winter’s Ashes Test matches. He keeps a travel blog of his journeys here

Tillakaratne Dilshan had a glint of mischief in his eye when he told the media what his team was going to do after they left Kingsmead on Thursday night. “We’re going to celebrate!” he said.

And why not? After eight attempts at winning a Test match in South Africa, they had finally done it in smashing style. After being left battered and bruised in Centurion, they came out with more fight than anyone thought they possessed and meted out a right-royal thrashing of the hosts. After being accused of having no match-winners, they bound together as a team to play a game of cricket most of them will never forget. So, yes, a celebration well deserved.

This year, I have seen some memorable cricket festivities. I was in Centurion when South Africa clinched the one-day series against India and toasted the night away. I was in Harare when Zimbabwe announced their return to Test cricket with a win over Bangladesh and was invited to their epic dhindhindi (party) at the team hotel. I was at Newlands when South Africa beat Australia and was working in the press box long enough to see Graeme Smith, his wife and a collection of friends gather on the Newlands pitch to celebrate 47 all out and a crazy win. So, I was interested to know what Sri Lanka got up to in Durban after making history at Kingsmead.

Perhaps soon Christmas cards will have pictures of an azure sky above a bluer sea, lit up only by the shining sun. Instead of a man bundled up in a red coat, the person bearing gifts will wear colourful swimwear and mince pies will be replaced with ice-cream. In Africa, that’s how we celebrate the holidays and no place does it better than Durban.

The east coast city markets itself as “the warmest place to be” and besides the steamy temperatures, the end of year vibe is at its best here. Last week, more than 2,500 cars passed through one of the major highway toll gates every hour en route from Johannesburg and other up-country destinations to the coast. Guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, hotels and holiday flats are booked out as everyone seeks out the city’s best feature – the beach.

Durban’s Golden Mile is a five kilometre stretch of hotels and restaurants that has gone from grubby to grand after it was revamped for last year’s FIFA World Cup. It starts at the Suncoast casino - an attempt to recreate the art deco style that dominates elsewhere in the city but what is really an ostentatious monstrosity combining many of life’s ills, gambling and junk food for example, under one roof. It ends at the African-themed Moyo restaurant, which is located in the uShaka aquarium theme park, where everything from springbok to crocodile is served. In between, there is the regular selection of fast-food joints, the raucous bar Joe Cool’s and the trendy café Circus Circus.

The visiting team hotel, the Southern Sun Elangeni, is also along this strip. When subcontinent teams, in particular, are visiting, the lobby of this hotel is filled with fans waiting to catch a glimpse of their heroes, something which does not often happen in South Africa. Durban is said to be the biggest enclave of people of Indian heritage outside of India, which is perhaps one of the reasons for the strong subcontinental support in this area.

As a rule I hate sponsor events around cricket series. Trying to capitalise on the two things dearest to the country I am in in the last week of the year, - Christmas and cricket – I am positively miffed. So with trepidation I headed to the “Test Series Christmas” celebration on Southbank in Melbourne only because the official press conferences were supposed to happen there.

I was in for a surprise. Yes there was sponsor presence, but it wasn’t the main event. The main event was cricket and a few carols. Select cricketers from both sides first signed autographs for all the fans that turned up – given the presence of people of Indian origin here, it was a big number. The real deal followed when a group of kids got to play soft-ball cricket with the cricketers. Host Peter Lazer was a ripper too, touching upon touchy issues, like comedians should. He is not one, though.

Michael Hussey came out first, and deliberately missed on the first swing to be out bowled, and then threw his head back in mock disappointment. Lazer sledged him saying if he batted like that, this could be the last time Australia was seeing him bat. Hussey deliberately missed the next one too, to be hit high on the thigh. “He has given him,” Lazer went, “Huss, we don’t have DRS so you can’t appeal against it.”

The next man in was Ricky Ponting, who got into mock sledging with the kids. He too obliged by getting bowled. Rahul Dravid brought more realism to it when he lobbed a simple return catch to a kid. You could sense he must be doing a lot of that with his son too. Before walking back, Dravid high-fived every kid present, which took the little ones by surprise.

Long flights can sometimes be good, especially when you have spent the last couple of days thinking of foreign exchange, malfunctioning credit cards, lost keys, and generally lived through Murphy’s Law. Once on the flight, though, for 15 hours without communication devices and with no way back, all you think of is forward. On my flight to Australia, all I thought of was Australia, a place every cricket lover who grew up in the nineties in India has a special bond with. Back then you watched cricket from Australia more than you did from India, mostly because you could catch it before going to school. In no particular order I thought of:

It’s the post-tea session at the MCG, the sun is out, and Australia haven’t taken a wicket for some time. The 85,000 voices then go, “Waaaaarnie … Waaaaarnie,” until Shane Warne is brought on.

The Channel Nine coverage, which would begin at 5.30 am in Indian winters. Made you want to be there, in the sun, even as you had breakfast.

Those stumps mics on crack. Every time the ball would hit the stumps, they would go “khrrrrrash”. Gutturally, exaggeratedly, almost like they were special effects. Not the kind deceptively added to cricket documentaries nowadays to blow up the sound of bat hitting the ball.

The seagulls. And the Pigeon.

“It’s all happening.” Screaming on air should be left to one man alone. Nobody else can do it like Bill Lawry.

David Boon’s catches. The flick-pull from Brian Lara held at short square leg. The flick from Mohammad Azharuddin caught at forward short leg, after a juggling act.

With skyscrapers whose summits get lost in smog, shopping malls that teem with sophisticated who’s who, suburbs that sprawl for as far as the eye can see, Johannesburg is like any modern, first-world city. The only thing missing from it was a subway, until late last year.

Eleven years ago, the city announced an ambitious project to build a railway system that would link Sandton, the main commercial district, to the airport and the country’s capital Pretoria. Back then, no-one believed it could be done. In 2006, when construction started, even fewer people had faith in the idea. For one, the construction company had to buy numerous blocks of flats and other private property to make way for the tracks. Many owners refused to sell. Worker strikes were inevitable and delays along the way meant that when the football World Cup was a few weeks away and the venture appeared no closer to completion, it was classified a failure.

In the 18 months since then, reasons to doubt the dreams of the provincial government have become fewer and fewer. The Gautrain launched, initially with just the airport route operational, for the Word Cup, but now can take passengers all the way to Hatfield, where Pretoria’s main university is. Along the way, it stops at Centurion, a little more than a kilometre away from SuperSport Park.

It is not the first time that public transport has been available to spectators of a cricket match – minibus taxis have been used for years – but it is the first time the middle-classes have felt comfortable enough to use it.

If not for Charlize Theron or Charlene Wittstock, Benoni would be as nondescript as Pietermartizburg, Welkom or Colesburg. It would be just another simple and ordinary South African town with few frills or fuss. But, the two Cs have ensured that Benoni will forever be known as the place that has produced both an Oscar winner and a princess, despite being worlds apart from Hollywood or any kind of royalty.

Willowmoore Park is a 20-minute drive from the centre of Johannesburg and almost 40 minutes away from Johannesburg’s main cricket hub, the Wanderers, on the edge of Sandton. It lies at the top of Tom Jones Road, the pulmonary vein of the East Rand town, dotted with motorcar spare shops, casual grocers, gas stations and dodgy looking beauty parlours. As far as stadiums go, Willowmoore Park is no great beauty.

Concrete is the defining feature, an acceptable material for any building, but when used in hulking masses, as it has been for this stadium, it emphasises its own garishness. The grandstand is painted green and topped with a tin roof – it could easily be mistaken for a shed. The rest of the ground is humble, with covered seats in the main pavilion and new concrete stands eating up the once ample grass embankment.

The scoreboard is not the same as any other in the country. Instead of the usual black with yellow writing, it is an electronic version of a notepad, with a crammed up, small font that makes it difficult to read. The floodlight pylons are the oldest in the country and it shows. The concrete towers look like something out of the movie Shutter Island and the bank of light bulbs is significantly smaller than anywhere else in the country. Few can remember the last time a day-night match was played here.

Ian Reid is not your typical Australian cricket fan. For one thing, he’s not Australian. In fact, he has never visited the country.

But at Australia’s nets sessions at Newlands at the weekend, he was one of the few people who turned up to watch the team train. To watch them rebuild after their all-out-for-47 debacle.

He’s as passionate in his support of Australia’s side as just about anyone around the world. A South African who grew up in Cape Town, Reid, 25, has been enamoured with Australian cricket since the Steve Waugh era.

“I just thought Steve Waugh’s die-hard attitude was a huge inspiration,” he says. “I love that aggressive brand of cricket we used to play – no fear.”

In his distinctly Capetonian accent, Reid uses the word “we” without hesitation. This is his team. Ricky Ponting from Launceston, Mitchell Johnson from Townsville. Ian Reid from Cape Town.

“My world was cricket, growing up,” he says. “I just found a natural pride and inspiration following Australian cricket. I liked the players a lot. I find it similar to music. I’ve always felt that you don’t pick an instrument, the instrument picks you. I’ve felt the same with the sport team that I follow. It picked me. It was the team that inspired me.”

During the day, Reid works in marketing and sales. During his spare time, he writes for a supporters’ blog that he started during the 2008-09 series against India, when public opinion was turning against the Australians. Through the blog, he has discovered he is not alone.

Sunday at the Newlands cricket ground was at once a typical day and an abnormal one. Barely twelve hours after one of the most widely-read columnists on the game, one of the sport’s most distinctive commentators, had taken his own life, Australia’s cricketers were in the nets.

As one life ends, others go on. The game does not wait. The Australians have plenty to work on after their loss during the week. On what was to be the fifth day of the Cape Town Test, they were already looking ahead to the Johannesburg match, which starts on Thursday.

A match that, in one of his final columns, Peter Roebuck had described as a chance for Australia’s incumbents to redeem themselves and for the new selectors to study the trends. Trends, Roebuck noted, like their trouble against the seaming or swinging ball.

He was restrained in his writing after Australia were dismissed for 47. It wasn’t always that way. Notably, he raised the ire of the Australians in January 2008, when he wrote that Ricky Ponting should have been sacked as captain for his role in the Sydney Test controversy against India.

On Sunday, Ponting approached the journalists watching the net session at Newlands and expressed how sorry he was to hear of Roebuck’s death. He was not sought for comment; he offered it unprompted and sincerely.

One of the most unexpected sights for the Australian visitor to Potchefstroom is the office of AFL South Africa. Australians are mad about their indigenous football code – at least, those who aren’t from the rugby heartland states of New South Wales and Queensland. But few foreigners follow or even understand the sport. That’s something the game’s governing body wants to change, hence a presence in South Africa since 1997.

It was strange indeed to peer in the window of an office behind the grandstand at Senwes Park and see framed Fremantle and Essendon jumpers and a pile of oval balls. It is the off-season, but when the summer of cricket finishes, goal posts will be erected at either end of Senwes Park and the footy begins.

Leagues run in four of South Africa’s provinces, with matches every weekend, culminating in regional, then provincial and finally national championships. Surprisingly, there are 11,500 players of Australian rules in the country.

If there was any doubt about what sort of place Potchefstroom is, the name of the cricket ground provides the answer: Senwes Park. Senwes is an agricultural business focused on grain producers, and inside the press box is a picture showing tractors, fertiliser, and maize – hardly things you’d expect at an international cricket ground.

These are not criticisms, but simply serve to highlight that Potchefstroom is no bustling metropolis. For an Australian comparison, it's more Geelong than it is Melbourne. That makes it all the more remarkable that the city, with a population of 125,000, has developed such a strong sporting pedigree.

Effectively, it’s a dual-World Cup winning city. In 2003, Australia’s cricketers based themselves there in the lead-up to the second of their three consecutive titles. And last year, Spain set up camp in Potchefstroom, from where they launched their triumphant FIFA campaign.

In fact, if you walk past the tractor photo and down a flight of stairs, you’ll find a signed Spanish jersey from last year’s tournament, a constant reminder that this is a sporting hub. The place might be short on tourist attractions, but it has world-class sporting facilities.

Sport is a way of life in Potch. As Australia took on South Africa A in their tour match at Senwes Park, kids were playing rugby and cricket on the grass embankment, soccer was under way at a pitch adjacent to the ground, and even AFL had a presence: the offices of AFL South Africa are based at the ground, part of the league’s optimistic expansion plan.

Even the older gentleman who runs the guest house in which I am staying works as a tennis coach, his phenomenal tan evidence of the decades he has spent under the sun. Coming as I have from Australia, a country with a rich sporting history but now with one of the worst obesity rates in the world, it’s good to know there is a place where outdoor activity is still king.