WITH all the Twenty20 going on over the past three weeks, our terrific start to the County Championship seems a long time ago.

When we face Northampton on Monday it will be our first game for over a month. We had a great start and it is key that we try and make the most of it by securing promotion to Division One.

It will take some hard work for the lads to change their mindset from Twenty20 to the longer format; we must bat time and bowl with patience – methods that served us so well at the start of the season.

Having only played a handful of T20 games between us, James Harris and myself found ourselves in Kidderminster this week playing in a three-day fixture against Worcestershire seconds.

With the game against Northants looming it is vital that we get some practice to prepare us for a grueling four days.

Getting used to bowling 25 overs a day is crucial as your body needs to prepare for the workload ahead.

When you are playing regularly your body gets used to the rigors of bowling long spells and spending days in the field.

Having bowled 38 overs in two days this week I need my roommate James to help me put my shoes on! Or maybe I’m just getting older! In a way it’s nice to spend some time with the second XI as you can help and advise some of the younger lads about how to improve their games.

It’s an area that I would like to go into when I finish playing and am currently in the process of achieving my coaching badges along with a masters degree in sports coaching. However, I’m hoping some of the young lads don’t come through too soon or I could find myself coaching a little earlier than I thought!

Twenty20 is a game of momentum and unfortunately for us the last two weeks have been tough. Life has been somewhat trickier since winning our first three games. However, we are still in with a shout and hopefully by the time you read this we will have got another win under our belts at Hampshire last night.

In T20 the game can change in an over or even a ball. One big scoring over or two wickets in an over can change the whole complexion of the game.

We have probably been on the wrong end of these overs when it has been in the balance in the ones we have lost.

Australia calling up our adopted Welshman Shaun Tait has made our bid for the quarter-finals even tougher.

He has been a breath of fresh air for the club with his whirlwind bowling and his Australian humour.It was no surprise to me and the lads that he was called up by Australia last week.

I’m sure you are all used to the Aussies with their fast bowlers, aggressive persona and their famous sledging.

They looked a bit flat in the ODI in Cardiff last week and didn’t seem to have that aura. Taity bowling upwards of 90mph is exactly what they need – some aggression, passion and something that may make life difficult for the England lads.

Shaun retired from four day cricket last year and has just played T20 for South Australia, Rajasthan Royals in India and Glamorgan so being called up to the Australian 50-over side was somewhat of a shock to him.

We were actually having a beer when his phone rang to let him know the bus would pick him up in the morning!

He seemed disappointed to leave the lads as he had such a great time with us in Cardiff.

He will be back however, in a couple of weeks and has already stayed in contact daily with the lads since being with Australia.

Last week saw me complete my first marathon for charity. It was actually a bike ride but I felt every mile of it!

We were raising money for a friend of mine called Dan who has been diagnosed with cancer.

About 20 of us left Blaenavon to raise money for Dan to try and make his and his family’s life a little easier through their difficult time. The fact that I couldn’t sit down for two days afterwards means I will be leaving my bike in the garage for a while!