WHAT a ridiculous start to the season. Rain seems to have followed us everywhere and we've been really fed up.

We were supposed to have played 16 days of championship cricket before the Yorkshire game but we lost nine days. We have been the worst hit county, worse even than Lancashire who lost eight straight days.

It has been really difficult for all the players, having had so little time in the middle. That's why I played my first Second X1 game for six years against Hampshire the other day, managing fifty.

Because of my injuries and the rain I have had only one championship knock and that lasted three balls before I was out to a pretty poor shock.

Adrian Dale and myself were looking at the first class averages the other day. You have to have completed six inning to get in and none of our boys are anywhere near. Only two of our guys, Mike Powell and Jimmy Maher, have managed four innings. The rest have had three or fewer.

People used to get 1,000 runs before the end of May, but not now. The Kent game was particularly disappointing because we lost so much time when it only drizzled much of the time.

Had it stopped we could have been on and playing in 30-45 minutes. Killing time in those circumstances can be difficult. It usually consists of hanging around, reading the papers and talking rubbish basically. And let me tell you, there is some rubbish talked as well.

But back on the playing front, we've got to be positive, hope the weather bucks up and try to play some good cricket. We do need a win under our belts.

But having said that, if you look at the table we are not in an horrendous position in sixth place despite four draws.

There are not too many points between top and bottom. It's not as if a couple of sides have stretched away. It could be a lot worst.

Of course the county were delighted that Robert Croft made the England squad again. We are not going to see him for some time now with the one-day internationals to follow. But we are lucky that Dean Cosker is bowling so well. He grabbed four wickets against Kent, but he has been bowling well all year and has been economical in the one-dayers. The next few weeks will be good for him. He will become the senior spinner and hopefully he will thrive on that responsibility.

I think England's second Test against Pakistan is difficult to call. It will be interesting to see how the wicket plays.

If it's anything like the one we used for our Sunday League game at Old Trafford, it won't be lasting too long.

Of course, Byron Denning, our scorer, was on duty at the First Test when he scored the England victory.

He was chuffed and came in and showed us his medal. The boys gave him a bit of stick over that. They asked, "are we good enough for you now" and "will you still talk to us?" He's basking in his new found fame, but he deserves it.