It`s been quite a week in the cricketing world.

England regain the Ashes,but more importantly Glamorgan win their second championship game on the spin.

And spin was the operative word in both games!

I must start by congratulating the England boys on retaining the Ashes at the Oval.

It was a tight series but not a patch on 2005. The teams were very equal during this series but the better cricket played four years ago by better players.

I was surprised during and after the game that there were no criticisms of the wicket. It was the worst pitch I’ve seen in a long time at the Oval. It was obviously overcooked to be very dry to guarantee a result in the match.

There hasn’t been a positive result at the Oval all summer yet the Test match is over in four days! I’m surprised the Aussies didn’t make more of a fuss about the surface.

Looking back on the series, Cardiff has come out with flying colours.

Can you imagine if the pitch at Headingley or the Oval was at Cardiff!?

Everything went perfectly back in July with a great atmosphere and a final ball finish.

I`m told the England boys were very impressed with facilities and the way they were looked after during the whole week.

None more so than Andrew Flintoff who has now played his last Test.

We all remember the picture with Brett Lee at Edgbaston in 2005. That moment will be remembered for decades but whatever happened to the other bloke!?

Lee didn’t play a single game in the whole series! It seems he must have upset someone? Fallen out with Ponting?

Possibly if Australia needed to win the final test he might have featured.

I just found it strange to leave out a bowler of his class and experience for the entire series.

It seems the celebrations were slightly more muted than in 2005, but I think if anyone deserved a drink its Stuart Broad.

After being written off in the press he has shown great character to come back and perform the way he did in the final two tests.

* It’s been a mixed bag for the Glamorgan boys in the past fortnight with our one-day form on the slide but our championship cricket is really gathering momentum.

We came off second best to the weather at the Oval losing out via the Duckworth/Lewis method.

That was a disappointing loss but the highlight of the week was to make my first visit to Harrods!

After spending the night in our Knightsbridge hotel, which was far too posh for us, a morning of leisure was undertaken on Oxford Street.

I was hoping to treat my dog (Jim) to a new collar from Harrods but barked at the price!

A couple of coffees were bought and I will be contacting my bank for a possible remortgage next month!

The defeat to Middlesex at Cardiff was disappointing when we were in a good position to win the game.

Tom Maynard again showed amazing ability and temperament to compile 64 but unfortunately couldn’t see us home.

Our young batsmen are getting good one day experience now and will hopefully keep improving to start competing more regularly in 2010.

Spin played a big part in the Oval test and it was no different in Swansea where we faced Middlesex again.

Swansea has always been a good cricket wicket that in recent times has more often than not produced a result. This year was no different.

I was unfortunately left out of the side to accommodate our three spinners.

There was some cause for concern when just after lunch on day one Shaun Udal turned a delivery which bounced over the wicket-keepers head!

There had been rumours flying around that this could be our last championship game at Swansea for a long time.

The ground has become slightly run down with the changing rooms and dining facilities not fit for first-class cricket.

The argument being that we have just built a £9 million stadium 50 miles up the road.

But the ground has a great history and memorable times with Garfield Sobers hitting six sixes off Malcolm Nash probably the most notable.

I had to laugh when I heard Robert Croft being interviewed after the game.

I’m always keen to give Crofty some stick in this diary so I will carry on!

He mentioned how the players love coming down to Swansea and the views are great and the pitch is wonderful.

He had just taken nine wickets in the match and was obviously wanting to play down here next year!

He is still a fine bowler and was well backed up by Dean Cosker in both innings.

I did have a giggle on Saturday when Matthew Maynard rung up our South African bowler Garnett Kruger who was due to be 12th man and was running a little late.

The boys thought it must have been the traffic or something but he was greeted by Garnett’s voice telling him he was in London shopping!

He is a lovely bloke but is not the sharpest in our team. Thinking about it there are not too many who are!

This week sees Herchelle Gibbs playing his last game for the club this year.

He has shown glimpses of his talent during his time here but not a winning performance.

Hopefully this week can be his turn before Mark Cosgrove returns to play the last month of the season.

The lads travelled up to Northampton this week for the championship game at Wantage Road in good spirits.

It’s going to be a tough one with their group of South African international players.

But we go their full of confidence after winning our previous two games.

The last time two games were won on the trot was in 2004 when we got promoted. Hopefully that’s a good omen.

I won’t be travelling this week but looking forward to my first Saturday off this summer.

I will be attending the marriage of friends Gavin and Emma in Ross on Wye.

It should be a lovely occasion and I wish them both well for the future.