Captain's crossroads

The resignation of David Fulton as one-day captain following the C&G quarter-final defeat by Warwickshire was, the club captain insists, "a principled decision". The agonies that preceded it were considerable.

"I wasn't in the best form, hadn't played in the Twenty20. I was thinking, `I'm captain of this club and I can't make an impact.' Still, I wanted to play at Edgbaston, lead from the front. You dream about lifting a trophy at Lord's.

"But the coaches didn't think I was in the best side. Michael Carberry had played well in the Twenty20 and they were keen to get him in. I'm a big fan of Michael's but I still felt I should have played. So I said, if we lost, I'd stand down so we can go in a different direction. I supported the team on the day, doing throwdowns etc, but I'd already made my mind up before play. I wanted to avoid conjecture. It was a tough decision but there's certainly no bad blood. The club is bigger than Dave Fulton." Matthew Walker takes over.

The seven-an-over chase a week later at Guildford that brought an improbable Championship win over Surrey, says Fulton, was the perfect pick-me-up. "Rob Key and myself got us off to a good start but then we stuttered. People were worrying about the spinners pitching into the rough but I said, `We've come this far; we play to win.'"

Moment of the month Justin Kemp and Niall O'Brien taking 16 off Jimmy Ormond's penultimate over to help seal that Championship win at Guildford.