We visited Al Maha two years ago on our way home from Sri Lanka. Since then a new conservation centre has been recently opened to help educate people about the desert, its wildlife and its fauna. The activities remained the same, with the addition of morning yoga. This time one of us decided to ride a camel to the dune sunset drinks….but just once, walking across the desert was preferable.

The International League T20 (ILT20) is a professional league set up in the UAE and first played in 2023. The league has six teams and our visit to the UAE coincided with the play-offs and final. We obtained tickets for the final, at the Dubai International Stadium, between the Dubai Capitals (a franchise owned by the IPL team, Delhi Capitals) and the MI Emirates (owned by Mumbai Indians). Each team has to have two UAE players, but the rest of the team is international. DC was captained by Sam Billings and included Tom Abell, Tom Banton, Jason Holder and Olly Stone. MIE was captained by Nicholas Pooran and included Kusal Perera, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Trent Boult.

MIE won by 45 runs, having scored over 200, including some big sixes into the crowd, one of which reached the Royal Box to the astonishment of the UAE royalty present. For us, the main entetainment was the crowd of around 20,000, mainly made up of Indian migrant workers who were most excited by the spectacle as a social occasion involving dancing, cheering, moving between seats, calling familiy members in India and trying to make TV appearances. The music was loud and the announcer was louder, successfully revving up the crowd but lacking a bit of accuracy regarding the cricket. There were lots of flags and some unusual costumes. Although available, very little alcohol was consumed, in contrast to our trip to the cricket in Perth where the beer was flowing but the crowd were far calmer.

Enjoyable, but nothing like Lord’s !