**Lovely Lahore **](BBC SPORT | Cricket | England | Lovely Lahore)
Looking across the lush outfield to the wonderfully grand pavilion at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore I was quite surprised to hear Pakistan fans chanting their favourite England player’s name in the final warm-up game.
The loudest cheers don’t come in support of the two likely suspects of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen but for good old Ashley Giles.
Indeed, each time the big man fields the ball or is given the chance to turn his arm over the cries of “Ashley, Ashley, Ashley” ring out from beneath the trees that surround the ground.
Such is Giles’ singular popularity that a television crew filming the local support ask which other England players they have come to watch are met with the surprising response of “only Ashley”!
By the third day, and for the first time on this tour, the continual clatter of wickets abates as Pakistan A slowly erode the England target and we can sit back and soak up the wonderfully relaxing atmosphere.
That is until the appearance of Chacha cricket, the green bedecked, white bearded supporter extraordinaire of Pakistan cricket who arrives just after lunch to give his backing to the Pakistan A side.
He’s been at the ground less than 10 minutes before he unfurls not only his huge Pakistan flag but also a St George’s cross and Union flag to the cheers of those packed the other side of the fence peering in.
Not only that, but the cheers of “Zindabad Pakistan” soon ring out as he whips the crowd, his crowd, into a frenzy.
So by the time Pakistan A overhaul England’s total, and hasty arrangements are being made for a news conference regarding Michael Vaughan’s injury, both Chacha and the local supporters have cheered themselves hoarse.
It just goes to show that if enough local supporters take up the offer of free tickets on offer for the Test series then support for Pakistan, and, of course, Giles won’t be in short supply!
The Bagh-e-Jinnah is situated just off Lahore’s bustling Mall, and provides a literal green lung from the fumes emitted by thousands of cars and rickshaws going about their daily business in the city.
And tucked away in one corner of the park is the atmospheric Lahore Gymkana Club. The ground held three Test matches back in the 1950s before losing its status to the more functional Gadaffi Stadium, and the small museum in the old clubhouse paints a wonderfully evocative picture of cricket in days gone by. It was a lovely way to unwind before the stresses and strains of the real Test match begins on Saturday.
time to go home now 
