The new season is up and running now but our Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign opened with defeat against Warwickshire Bears.

We played on the same wicket against Surrey in the Friends Provident Trophy a couple of years ago. It’s a good pitch and we scored 337-3 – when both me and Jarre scored centuries – but they nearly chased it down when Mark Butcher hit 139 in 80-odd balls. We knew we would have to field well to defend our 246-6.

We lost Keysey early on but Joe batted superbly for his 80 and Jarre and I chipped in with 50s. Rob is a class act and, rest assured, as soon as he finds his rhythm, he will be back among the runs.

Azhar got Neil Carter early on but unfortunately we caught Ian Bell on a good day. He and Jonathan Trott put on 120 for the second wicket but we always thought we had a chance – as long as Trott was at the wicket. His job is to anchor the innings and bat through but he wasn’t scoring quickly. Bell, though, is a classy player and his 88 was a great knock, although he was out to a poor shot, caught by Azhar at long off. Troughton saw them home but we will be back, gunning hard for Durham on Sunday.

We went into the Warwickshire clash having drawn our Championship match with Yorkshire. With 16 points for a win this season, I think you will see a few more results and both teams went into the final day chasing victory.

We set them 392 to win and they finished on 300-5 and a draw was probably a fair result. We dropped three catches and if we had taken them it could have been a different result.

We also dropped a few at Trent Bridge in our first game as well but all we can do is keep practising hard – nobody drops a catch on purpose – and they will start sticking.

This week sees the arrival of South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini as our overseas player. He has been a world class performer and takes wickets, which is what we need. Matt Coles and Phil Edwards are young, good players but we need experience and Ntini will certainly bring that.

This week also sees the start of the World Twenty20 competition and England have got as good a chance as any country. The wickets should suit our bowlers as they are slow and turning. Swann and Tredders should do well and it will be a great competition.