The hospitality was first class and we were delighted by the way we were received everywhere, from the cricket associations to the warm reception extended us by one or two individuals.
We were entertained by Wasim Akram's father at the family home on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. He put a marquee up on his lawn and invited the whole squad over to dinner on both occasions.
Even at the venues where you would say that facilities were not so good, people went out of their way to make sure the games were staged in the best way possible.
Our only blemishes were two defeats at Karachi - in the first three-day game early in the tour and the last one-day game this week. We learnt a lot during that first loss about adapting our technique to suit the bounce of the pitches. Considering we had had only two one-day games and two days' preparation before the game against their under-19 champions, we acquitted ourselves pretty well.
Overall, we were very pleased with the standard of umpiring. We had Shakoor Rana in the first one-day international, and the lads felt he was very good. His rapport with the players was excellent.
He was also very complimentary about the way our players handled themselves on the field. Indeed, presenting the umpires with their match ties after the games, their comments proved that the boys had shown themselves to be great ambassadors for their country.
Some of the younger players have only limited experience of three- and four-day cricket, so they have increased their knowledge in that regard. They have learnt about adapting their game to suit different conditions, in a different country, and about touring itself. Credit to the squad that they gelled so well as a unit.
Initially, it was not easy not having a full complement of players, with Neil Martin and Stephen Harmison having to return home through injury. Paul Franks and Simon Francis proved to be able deputies.
Andrew Flintoff's back injury prevented him from bowling much, which robbed us of a genuine all-rounder and changed the balance of the team. However, he has batted consistently and captained the side with maturity. We have looked an outstanding unit in the field and our record speaks for itself.
The Test series was a hard-fought contest between two evenlymatched sides. Both sides showed evidence of the ability to fight under pressure during the series. We saw some of the inconsistencies of youth at times, but when we were in a difficult position, we came out fighting. It was good, competitive cricket.
The main difference between the two sides, I believe, was that we had Ben Hollioake and Alex Tudor with the new ball as against Abdul Razzaq, their wiry, fit strike bowler. Our two guys got 29 wickets between them and never allowed their top order to settle.
This was acknowledged by Haroon Rashid, the former middle-order batsman for Pakistan, who is now one of the national selectors and coach of their under-19 side. He was very impressed with our squad and said that our boys adapted to the conditions as well as any England side he has seen tour Pakistan.
I believe we just had the edge in the Test series, but the oneday series could have gone either way. The first one-day international win at Gujranwala summed up the tour. Everyone contributed in that game either in the field, with runs or with their bowling.
Extensive television coverage - 45 minutes of highlights on national television during the Test series and full live coverage of the one-day internationals - created great interest.
Certainly, everyone in Pakistan knew we were playing. Spectators at the Test matches were not huge in number, but we had crowds of around 4,000 at the one-day games in Gujranwala and Sialkot, which created a good atmosphere.
Things have changed a lot, and though it is different socially and culturally, people have been very hospitable. We prepared ourselves for the worst, based on stories we had heard from years gone by. But on most aspects of the tour we have been pleasantly surprised. It has been both a rewarding and successful tour all round.
Tour Record: Beat Rawalpindi (1-day) by 58 runs. Beat Islamabad (1-day) by 30 runs. Lost to Karachi CCA (3-day) by 9 wkts. Beat Sahiwal DCA (3-day) by 224 runs. Beat Pakistan U-19 (Faisalabad, 1st Test, 4-day) by 2 wkts. Beat Lahore CCA (3-day) by 338 runs. Drew with Pakistan U-19 (Sheikhupura, 2nd Test, 4-day). Drew with Pakistan U-19 (Lahore, 3rd Test, 4-day). Beat Lahore Combined XI (1-day) by 39 runs. Beat Pakistan U-19 (Gujranwala, 1-day) by 26 runs. Beat Pakistan U-19 (Sialkot, 1-day) by 3 runs. Lost to Pakistan U-19 (Karachi, 1-day) by 2 wkts.