Category: Uzbekistan

Life in Central Asia: Photographs from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

January 7, 2025

Some of my photographs from Central Asia can be purchased through my store on Picfair. The collection is called Life in Central Asia.

The 25 scenes – from cities and rural locations in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – are available both as high-quality art prints, and as digital downloads for websites and businesses. … More Life in Central Asia: Photographs from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Uzbekistan’s Cricket Team: We’re Ready For International Matches — The Times of Central Asia

October 29, 2024

Supporters of Uzbek sport have had a lot to celebrate this year. The national football team currently sits at the top of its qualifying group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while eight of the country’s athletes took gold at this summer’s Paris Olympics.

But next year Uzbekistan wants to enter the world stage in a more surprising sport: cricket.

The Central Asian country joined the game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), in 2022. As an “Associate” ICC member there are hopes that the Uzbek squad will play its first international matches in 2025, in the Twenty20 (T20) version of the game. T20 games are much shorter than traditional five-day Test matches. … More Uzbekistan’s Cricket Team: We’re Ready For International Matches — The Times of Central Asia

Cricket in Uzbekistan: Some writing in the 2023 Wisden Almanack

April 20, 2023

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2023 includes a piece that I wrote for its Cricket Round The World section, about the growth of the game in the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. 

Having played and followed cricket all my life, I’m very proud that my article has a place alongside writing by my favourite journalists. Following the Notes by the Editor Lawrence Booth, the 2023 Wisden features essays by writers including Mike Atherton, Gideon Haigh, Tanya Aldred, Tim de Lisle and Emma John. … More Cricket in Uzbekistan: Some writing in the 2023 Wisden Almanack

The story of Uzbek wine – an interview with Visit Uzbekistan magazine

July 8, 2022

For the April 2022 issue of Visit Uzbekistan magazine I spoke with its editor, the writer and travel journalist Megan Eaves, about Uzbekistan’s wine and spirits culture, which I used to research as part of a job in the Central Asian alcohol industry. Our chat begins on page 29 of Visit Uzbekistan issue 32, which can be read and downloaded here. We talk about what makes Uzbek wine special, what plans the country’s vineyards have for the future, Uzbekistan’s spirits industry, and much more besides. … More The story of Uzbek wine – an interview with Visit Uzbekistan magazine

Getting drunk on my own in the former Soviet republics: Confessions of an alcohol analyst

April 2, 2020

It’s long past midnight in a rugged little town high up in the Caucasus Mountains, and I’m lying on my back in the middle of an icy street, gazing up at the stars. There is freezing air in my lungs, a mountain climb in my legs, and half a bottle of chacha in my veins. I am so happy I can’t move.

I arrived in northern Georgia from Tbilisi the night before, and booked a room in a guesthouse in Stepantsminda (also called Kazbegi), to make the trek up to Gergeti Trinity Church – one of the most beautiful places in the Caucasus.  … More Getting drunk on my own in the former Soviet republics: Confessions of an alcohol analyst