Ravi's masterclass

Results have not been going our way of late but we can take some comfort in the fact that we have reached the semi-final of the Friends Provident Trophy following our recent win at Grace Road.

That victory was dominated by Ravi Bopara who produced a very special knock to finish with 201 not out. Ravi’s been our stand-out player this season and I’m delighted that England are now playing him at No.4 in their ODI team. That’s where his strength is.

At Grace Road he came in at a very difficult time, after we lost a couple of quick wickets, but he seemed to strike the ball extremely well from the start. Everyone who witnessed his performance saw a very special innings that day. It was nice to see the umpires, opposition and home crowd giving an away player the type of recognition that Ravi got at the end.

I spent a lot of the innings at the end so got a perfect view of Ravi’s display – helping him to add a record fifth-wicket stand for Essex in the competition (190). When I came to the crease we were four down with not many on the board so it was important that I stayed with Ravi. My job was to pick up singles to make sure he got as much of the strike as possible while hitting any bad balls that came along.

I was pleased with the way I played – particularly against Claude Henderson, who is a very canny performer. It was crucial that I kept Ravi company for a long period because we didn’t want to expose the lower order to Henderson and their other spinner Jeremy Snape.

Now we go on to play Yorkshire in the semi-final and it will be very exciting to be on a cricket field with Darren Gough again – the first time since he left us. Darren was a huge influence on our side during the three years he was here and made a lot of friends. Having got to know him as a team-mate there is certain to be a lot of banter flying around on the day but, most importantly, he is an extremely good player so we need to be aware of what he can do. Their gain was certainly our loss when Darren joined them. Yorkshire have a lot of strength-in-depth but we’ve put in some good performances in the Friends Provident Trophy so can go into the game with every confidence.

And so to the Twenty20 Cup.

It’s been an interesting start to the tournament for myself as I’ve taken on the extra responsibility of captaincy. Mark Pettini took a knock in a vital area during our four-dayer at Lord’s and was in a fair bit of pain after that. Unfortunately he took another blow in our opening Twenty20 Cup match at the Oval and he’s been struggling ever since. We wish him a speedy recovery.

As a result I’ve taken up the mantle and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Twenty20 cricket is probably not the ideal start for a captain, as everything is quite rushed, but I’ve had good support from our experienced players. While Mark is laid low I’ll be doing the job for the foreseeable future so hopefully I can the team back into the winning habit.

Performing so well in our opening match at The Oval meant our subsequent two defeats against Middlesex were even more disappointing. Credit to Middlesex as they are a powerful Twenty20 unit with a lot of strength in areas where they can hurt you. One of their main plusses is the spin duo of Murali Kartik and Shaun Udal who are fine one-day bowlers and put a little of pressure on you as a batsman.

After those defeats it’s important to get back to winning ways at Sussex and at home to Kent to get some more momentum.

Off-the-field there has been little time for ‘fun and giggles’ behind the scenes of late because everything has been so hectic in terms of our schedule. No doubt a few wins will put the smiles back on our faces!