We caught up with Tour Director Richard Nurse in Dubai as England began Day 2 of the first Test Match versus Pakistan looking to contain their middle and lower-order batsmen...

Greetings from a warm and sunny Dubai! We have just arrived at the ground in Dubai Sports City for Day 2 of the first Test. After an uneventful journey from the UK, we have all settled into the hotel and have seen nothing but friendly faces from the beginning. The One&Only Residence and Spa is perfect for us as it offers a luxurious and relaxed atmosphere with plenty of restaurant and activity options and is only 20 minutes from the cricket ground. We look out directly over The Palm, which is a stunning development, but maybe a little too man-made for my liking.

We arrived at the ground yesterday and were showed to our hospitality box where the facilities are superb. Our seats are situated at “mid-on” and provide a fantastic view of not only the cricket but the rest of the impressive stadium. Unfortunately spectators were few and far between, however hopefully the attendance rates will improve on Thursday and Friday when it is the national weekend. We were offered excellent food throughout the day and I for one was very impressed with the set-up. We were fortunate to have a string of visitors popping in to say hello including the Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd, TMS correspondent Michael Vaughan, the England selector James Whitaker and Geoffrey Boycott to mention a few. Sadly England’s performance today couldn’t match the quality of the guests in our box however, tomorrow is another day, and we are remaining optimistic as cricket is a funny game!

If you are wishing that you were part of our tour then let me take the opportunity to recommend that you join our next trip to see the England Team take on Sri Lanka in March and April or India in November and December. It will be a fantastic opportunity to experience Test Match cricket of the highest quality, our hospitality options and the very best of what these vibrant and diverse countries have to offer. They are guaranteed to be cracking tours!

Back in Dubai, we hope that we will continue to enjoy this excellent weather and let’s look forward to an England fight back over the coming days before moving on to Abu Dhabi for the second Test!

Richard Nurse, Tour Director
Published: 18 January 2012