I arrived in Multan to a cool breeze on a pleasant morning with the city just rumbling awake with one myth of the city already debunked.

Everyone had their own views about the city and they were generous in laying it all on me even before I set off on this Goodwill Cricket series.

But all were one in their assessments that the history of the city is very much alive, though it is all about death, dust and heat.

As I was taken to the hotel from the bus depot, the first stirrings were readily visible in the cluster of lanes and alleyways of the old city. Though dust swirled in these parts, the modern areas and also the rectilinear British days Cantonment were relatively free of this.

That the city abounds with burial grounds was evident in abundance, and that this ancient city is a shrine of history and culture is for all to see.

The sleepy agri-based town has its own pace and charm, and even the excitement of the first cricket Test is being relayed with stately grace. This despite the fact that the Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq is a local boy and former captain Waqar Younus comes from Vehari, 80-odd kmfrom Multan.

While Multan basks in the glow of history, with many again retelling that it will bake very soon in the grip of intense heat, there is one among us who is creating his own history.

Qamar Ahmad, a cricket writer and broadcaster who lives and breathes cricket, completed 300 Tests when he aired his opinions along with live coverage of the Test on BBC radio.

Born in Uttar Pradesh in the undivided India and now residing in England, Qamar is a much-traveled man. And since they say that travel broadens the mind, it certainly has in Qamar’s case. It has also broadened his waistline over the years.

His name and face struck a chord when I was introduced to him, and when the light clicked so did we. Qamar’s trademark is his unassuming nature.

This has led to him rubbing shoulders with some of the great cricketers and cricketing writers and also the lesser known and the newcomers to the cricket scene.

The fact that he has a kind word for everyone, ready anecdotes and revels in everything cricket has led to him being sought after, joked with or just talked to on any subject other than cricket.

Qamar has already attained a distinction of sorts with 595 One-Day match coverages under his belt — he is one of the three persons to have covered all World Cups.

The other two are Tony Cozier and Patrick Eager.

There were two stories he remembered on cricket and Multan. The first being that after Inzamam’s superb showing that helped Pakistan win the 1992 World Cup, Multan opened up to welcome her favorite son. A cavalcade in honor of Inzamam’s personal triumph also brought about a minor tragedy.

One of his cricketing brothers lost two fingers as a firecracker burst in is hand.

The other he readily recalls is the Sylvester Clarke incident that rocked the 1981 series between Clive Lloyd’s West Indies and Pakistan. Clarke, fielding in the deep, was being pelted with oranges by a feisty crowd at the old cricket stadium Qassim Bagh.

Clarke, in a rush of blood, picked up a white brick marking the boundary, and threw it into the stand.

The brick hit a fan in the stand full flush on the back of his head. The fan, in deep discussion with his friend, did not see the brick coming.

The fan had to be stretchered off and play was halted for an hour, with the West Indies players taking refuge in their dressing room. Play only resumed after Clive Lloyd apologized.

Qamar does not end the story there.

Like a good reporter, he followed it to its end.

He related, in a strange irony of fate, today Clarke is dead of natural causes at a young age, while the fan is in the United States practicing medicine.