IT'S been a quiet week for me. I didn't play against Australia and after I had an injection in my knee last week, I had seven days off to rest before I had a bowl on Monday and again on Tuesday in the nets.
If everything goes to plan, I was going to be playing for the 2nd XI against Northamptonshire in a three-day game at Hove, which started yesterday (Wednesday), to get ready for the next County Championship game on Tuesday.
I went along to watch a couple of the days against Australia, and it was great to see the ground full.
But, after saying last week that Phil Hughes had never been bowled, he was bowled twice to good full-length deliveries from Pepler Sandri.
I haven't seen an awful lot of Pepler as he's been unlucky with injuries. But he's 6ft 4in, very strong physically, very pleasant and is genuinely fast.
He bowled well and was the pick of our seam attack, although probably went for a few too many runs.
It was unforunate for Carl Hopkinson that the game was not counted as a first-class match. He scored a very good hundred against an excellent attack and he's in very good form.
Prior to the game, he had scored two hundreds in a Championship 2nd XI game at Horsham, and 96 not out at the Rose Bowl.
Everyone wants to be in the first team and Carl doesn't have a spot at the moment. He's just got to keep getting runs so that when someone has a lack of form, he can come straight back in.
The whole club are building up to our Friends Providents Trophy semi-final against Gloucestershire on Sunday.
It's a massive game and would be fantastic to get to Lord's.
It was also excellent to reach the Twenty20 Cup quarter-finals. We were in the group of death, so to finish as runners-up was a great achievement.
We needed 24 off the final two overs to win at Middlesex and Chris Nash went and got them in just six balls. Chris Silverwood was the unlucky bowler, after bowling two very tight overs earlier on – but that's just the way things go in Twenty20 cricket.
While that was going on, I was in Essex watching my son, William, play for Sussex Under-11s. It was a very close game that Sussex lost, which was a bit disappointing, but William took his first wicket for the county.
He's a right-arm bowler and genuinely swings the ball. My other son, Louie, is just eight and is raring to play cricket, and he's a right-armer as well.
We played against Michael Vaughan recently at Headingley, when he hit me for a couple of sixes, and he didn't field in the last innings then.
I spoke to him after the game and he said same knee, same problem.
To go from playing for England and in the Ashes in front of full houses, back into County Championship games must be very hard.
And, after missing out on the England Ashes squad, he's decided to call it a day.
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