PERSONAL frustration and another dose of contrasting collective fortunes has been the story of the past week.

For me there were painful memories of last season as I sat and watched the boys in action - never a pleasant experience for a professional sportsman but at least I was cheered by our superb victory on Sunday which went some way to atoning for our loss in the Championship.

The good news is that my calf strain seems to be responding well and I hope to be fit to return to the county of my birth on Friday to play at Cheltenham against Gloucestershire. My knee is also coming on after a cortisone injection last Monday and hopefully I can now concentrate on scoring runs and captaining the side.

I have never played a county match at the beautifully picturesque College ground but have, of course, played there many times as a schoolboy during my time at Monmouth School.

It will be quite a special match for me, as I know that a lot of my friends from back in Lydney and the surrounding areas will be there.

The only down side for us as a team is that we are being forced to stay in a hotel in Bristol because there is an air show nearby this weekend and accommodation in Cheltenham had long been booked up by the time we were seeking it.

No matter, it is an important match for us after our below par efforts last week. Defeat was all the more galling given the excellent platform given to us on the first day by the new opening pair of Dan Cherry and Ian Thomas. In their contrasting styles they produced what was expected and probably a bit more but unfortunately the middle order was unable to capitalise. Then we were stymied by a powerful partnership of over 200 between Guy Welton and Usman Afzaal, which eventually proved the defining part of the match.

Hopes were briefly raised by a defiant partnership between the in form Matthew Maynard and Adrian Dale in the second innings but once they were parted it was all over for us. All the more credit to the team then for displaying the character to produce a highly comprehensive win on Sunday.

Aside from some off target bowling in the first fifteen overs it was a sublime display, embellished by an innings of high class from Matthew. It was also good to see David Hemp in the runs again, recovering from being dropped on nought to exhibit the sort of fluency which makes him such an attractive player to watch when in form.

Lastly a most deserving mention of the NatWest Triangular Series final last Saturday at Lord's. What a marvellous game. It was a shame that England had to lose it but that should not detract from the fact that they have made great strides in this form of the game and can hopefully kick on from this and be realistic contenders at the next World Cup.

I am not saying that we can necessarily win it but after the last two debacles it would be refreshing for us to be competitive and it certainly seems that the team under Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher are heading in the right direction.

Hussain's first one day international hundred induced an interesting reaction from the England captain. You could see that there was a lot of pent up emotion flooding out there as he gestured to some of his critics in the press box. He is a man high on emotion and passion but maybe in the cold light of day he may reflect that this act was a little misplaced. But I can also see why he did it.

The pressures of his job are enormous and none of us likes constant criticism. I can remember an occasion in my career, albeit on a mightily less grand scale at Hartlepool where I made similar gestures after scoring a one day hundred against Durham. I had been in and out of the team and I was a driven man that day, all the frustrations and anger waiting to pour out of my body.

And I think that is how Hussain felt on Saturday. It was not the prettiest of knocks, but boy was he determined. England have a leader with rare ardour and intensity at the moment and we should cherish him while we can.