I have heard it said that Glamorgan's loss to Middlesex at Southgate last weekend was one of their worst ever.

To score so many in the first innings (584-3 dec) and then end up losing is indeed unusual, but I have a lot of sympathy for skipper Robert Croft in this respect.

He had to make a game of it. Glamorgan are bottom of the table; turning up on the last day and letting the game meander to a draw was not going to help anyone. Imagine the slating he would have received then!

It was clearly the flattest of pitches, so Croft will have wondered how he might have been able to capture ten wickets on that last day, but he would have banked on Middlesex feeling the pressure during the run chase and losing them because of that.

They would have been committed to chasing the runs all the way- they might even have agreed with Croft to have done that, because those sorts of deals definitely used to go on.

But make no mistake, chasing over 400 on the last day of a match is never easy however bland the pitch, and however disappointing the final result Glamorgan must take heart from the batting performances of two of their younger brigade -- Dan Cherry and Jonathan Hughes.

I have expressed my admiration for Cherry before in these pages and was delighted for him. To convert his maiden championship hundred into a double was something special.

He was rattling on at such a rate that I feared for my record of 309 at one stage, but he can now stand proudly in the list of Glamorgan double-century makers.

Only eight Glamorgan players have made higher scores than Cherry's 226 (answers on a postcard - in fact why not e-mail me at stephen.james@telegraph.co.uk if you think you know - I'll give you a clue and tell you I'm one of them!).

Hopefully now Cherry has cemented his place at the top of the order and can relax into his role -- it has taken the club some time to replace Hugh Morris, who finished at the end of 1997, but at last the answer might have been found. Not least because Cherry bears a remarkable resemblance to Morris at the crease.

As for Jonathan Hughes, he showed a tremendous amount of character. To come back with twin centuries after all those noughts he had earlier in the season was a fine effort.

I know I said in these pages last week that I did not think he should have been playing instead of Mike Powell, but I still stand by that. Powell must be very disappointed because Southgate would have been the ideal pitch for him to have found form.

Quite what happens to him now is anyone's guess. He will probably struggle to play in the championship side for a while and that is not healthy -- he is far too good a player to be kicking his heels in the second team.

At least he appeared in the totesport League side last Sunday, albeit that he did not score many runs and Glamorgan lost.

Again that reverse will have disappointed Glamorgan fans but from what I have heard, Glamorgan were badly hit by injuries, with both Darren Thomas and Alex Wharf pulling out on the morning of the game and Andrew Davies forced to play even though he had a bad back.

I think the Twenty20 competition will prove a good thing for Glamorgan this season, its timing being good in that it will allow the side to relax. Twenty20 is all about having fun, and that is what Glamorgan should do.

They should enjoy the atmospheres of playing in front of large crowds and go out there and express themselves. They did well last year in reaching the finals (at the Brit Oval this year as opposed to Edgbaston) and I see no reason why they cannot reproduce that. Most of all though, they should start enjoying themselves again.

I know from previous experience that losing all the time -- and often heavily at that -- is no fun and can really get you down. Twenty20 may be the pick-me-up Glamorgan need.

Such refreshing tonics are not what England require at the moment. If anything they need some chill pills to quell the hysteria which is enveloping the nation as Australia crumble and England prosper.

For evidence, how about this joke: What's the difference between the Australian cricket team and the Sydney Harbour Bridge? Answer: not everyone has walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge! Don't we just love to gloat when the boot is on the other foot.

Of course, we should not get too carried away because the Test series will be very different from the one-dayers (and as I have said before Shane Warne is not involved in the one-dayers) but if things carry on as they are, the momentum is going to be hard for Australia to reverse - whatever they might be saying at the moment.