Neville Cardus, the renowned cricket writer thought nothing of mixing his beloved cricket with a little culture. He would have seen little remarkable in enjoying a bludgeoning century from the Australian batsman Brad Hodge at Old Trafford before pushing off to The Lowry nearby for some artistic nourishment.

I like to think he would have been delighted, as I was, to walk out onto my hotel balcony at the Old Trafford Lodge in the early morning sunshine to see Freddie Flintoff and his team mates playing a game of tag on the famous old ground's expansive outfield ahead of a one day match.

In the immediate post-war period, Cardus would have had a tu'ppeny bus ride from town to marvel at a Cyril Washbrook cover drive or a shortish delivery from Brian Statham. It would have cost the same to return to the city to see Sir John Barbirolli conducting the Halle orchestra at the Free Trade Hall.

Now the modern day visitor is being offered a complete package, sport, culture, both high and low, and discount shopping, within a stone's throw of Lancashire Cricket Club's home and its illustrious near neighbour, Manchester United.

Salford Quays, once a derelict mix of sad canal and industrial wasteland, has been reborn over the past two decades as Manchester's Canary Wharf. It can be marketed as Greater Manchester's new waterfront playground, and a place where visitors can spend a weekend without having to venture into the city.

At its heart is The Lowry, the theatre and visual arts complex, that resembles a new age aluminium ship thrusting its bow into the Manchester Ship Canal. But the Quays also boasts The Imperial War Museum North, the Lowry Outlet Mall for discount shopping, and Ordsall hall, a medieval country house dating back to the 14th century. Hotels are ubiquitous.

The marketing for 'The Quays' is based on the philosophy that anyone with a precious once-in-a-lifetime ticket to see United or England in a test match would like to push the boat out, and make a weekend of it, all without straying too far from the Sir Matt Busby Way.

My simple plan when I woke up in a pitch-facing room at The Old Trafford Lodge one recent Saturday was simply to cram in an much of the Quays as possible.

The Saturday itinerary, perhaps more whistlestop than strictly necessary, entailed visits to The Imperial War Museum, Ordsall Hall, the Lowry Outlet Mall, champagne on board a Mersey ferry moored in the canal basin, and dinner at The Lowry's bistro restaurant followed by a night at the theatre.

Sunday, by contrast, was a more leisurely affair watching Lancashire Lightning beat its old rivals Yorkshire Phoenix in abundant sunshine in a Friends Provident Trophy match. Earlier I had stood outside the Long room and marvelled at the Honours Board (1952, Len Hutton 104, England versus India, 1964, Ken Barrington 256, England versus Australia, 1896 KS Ranjitsinhji 154, England versus Australia).

The Quays, which combine Salford quays, Trafford Wharf and Old Trafford, may be a marketing man's construct but it works well. Most venues are within walking distance, albeit sometimes you can find yourself trudging along dusty four lane highways.

It is still a little premature to call it Greater Manchester's waterfront. There were only a handful of rowers from the Salford Watersports Centre in evidence but more will come. It is just a matter of time. It also strikes me that this is an excellent way for football fans to avoid the cliche of falling into loutish behaviour away from home.

Instead of breakfasting on pints of lager in a replica shirt at the nearest pub, they can lunch in the Sir Alex Ferguson suite at the Golden Tulip Hotel and visit The Manchester United Museum before kick-off. If they are feeling really adventurous they should take in a little high art and low culture.

Salford Quays' skyline is dominated by Daniel Libeskind's Imperial War Museum North. The roof is famously asymmetrical to reflect the disruption and displacement of war. In truth, it is a self-conscious escape from the constrictions of a traditional museum.

There is a good old-fashioned thrill as you realise you are standing beside the field gun which fired the first shell towards enemy lines in the First World War. For me the most effecting, and horrifying exhibit is always the grimy, blood-stained jacket worn by an inmate at the Majdanek concentration camp.

At hourly intervals everything stops for a son et lumiere show - images thrown against the museum's oddly misshapen walls. In 'Children at War' one young evacuee to the sticks to escape the bombs falling on London confesses that she thought she was going to be eaten alive by sheep. Another revealed in maturity how her 'benefactor' would lock them up under the stairs without food as a punishment.

From the top of the air shard, you could look down on The Lowry and the stretch of water where rowers were criss-crossing the basin. Less well known is Salford's hidden Medieval gem, the 14th century Ordsall Hall, left high and dry by history and squeezed between a sink estate and a dismal industrial landscape. John Ralston's oil painting of the hall (c.1830) shows the ancient brick and half-timbered home of the Radclyffe family in its former unfettered aspect.

Once inside the Star Chamber, the Radclyffes' master bedroom, you learn that it has the sixth most popular ghostcam in the world (just behind Ground Zero) and is a staple of television's 'Most haunted' series.

People tune in for sightings of 'the white Lady' walking around the bedroom and Great hall holding a candle. She is Margaret Radclyffe, Queen Elizabeth l's lady of the bathwater who is said to have died of a broken heart never returned from war in Ireland.

NEED TO KNOW: Salford Tourist Information Centre: 0870 420 4145, www.thequays.org.uk)