IN one way I am pleased the Twenty20 has come to an end.

It has been a disappointing campaign from the team and also on a personal level.

Team scores this year have been much higher with some teams targeting the early overs/power play.

Unfortunately I have come off second best at times but if little things had gone my way it could of been so different.

That’s the beauty of Twenty20 and why it has become so popular with the paying public.

I’m sure some of you would have seen our game on Sky TV last week where Vikram Solanki played superbly for his 100.

It was a good example of a team low on confidence coming up against one of the finest one-day batsmen in the country. I have heard criticism from certain parts for our recent performances in the Twenty20. Some of which is justifiable.

Personally I feel that championship cricket is main competition where you should be judged as a team.

Yes, we have put in some poor performances in one-day cricket at times but the four-day format is where the ‘proper cricket’ is played and it’s been a positive start for us with five draws and one loss.

We lost three days in total to rain against Derby and Northants and would have won both games barring a miracle.

With those two wins we would be sitting second in the table and I’m sure there would be a more positive outlook about our cricket.

We have a tough game at Essex next week but we welcome the return of Herchelle Gibbs.

He is a vibrant character who will bring some great energy and enthusiasm to the team.

I think it’s fair to say that there will be a bigger game going on for the club when the Ashes start in Cardiff on Wednesday.

It’s a huge occasion for the club who have been working towards this event for nearly four years, from the building of the new Swalec Stadium, installing a new outfield and bringing in numerous staff to ensure it all runs smoothly.

I know there are a lot of nervous, but also excited people at the club.

One of which is our new groundsman Keith Exton.

He was employed in January with the daunting task of producing a good wicket for the Ashes test!

There has been much talk about whether the pitch will spin and bounce with experts calling for England to play two spinners.

We even got docked points for ‘excessive turn’ early in the year.

Interestingly enough though, only 10 of the 55 wickets to fall at Cardiff this year in championship cricket have fallen to spin.

I do feel slightly for Keith. It’s a tough ask to produce a pitch for the biggest game in the club’s history after only being in the job for six months! He is a nice guy who works tremendously hard at his job and I am confident he will produce a great pitch.

We finish our championship game against Essex next Friday so most of the lads are going to the fourth day of the test on the Saturday.

The majority have hospitality tickets and it’s a good chance to invite friends/family or sponsors to the big game.

I am bringing my sponsor and my local landlord – you could say the two most important people!

I have also got a few friends coming who I have told to be on their best behaviour.

If I remember rightly, I predicted in my last diary that the Springboks would be too powerful for the lions and come out on top.

Having played a bit myself I know my stuff and saw it coming. Although I didn’t predict the underhand tactics they would use at times to get under the Lions skin, quite literally in some cases!

I also have a prediction for the Ashes. It all depends on two things for me.

If Flintoff and Anderson bowl to their potential then England can take 20 wickets.

Sidebottom has to play with his left arm variety and I think he will swing the ball in our conditions.

My old room mate Swanny will also play a big part with the possibility of leg spin in Adil Rashid.

Monty Panesar recently played against us in Cardiff and I was slightly disappointed with what I saw.

He has been quoted this week saying he has struggled a bit but he didn’t seem to have quite the same energy and bounce that you would normally associate with Monty.

Also I think England will need runs from their lower order to post big enough scores.

I’m slightly concerned for Bopara who I don’t think has been tested against world class bowlers yet. West Indies are certainly not in that category.

People like Swann, Prior and Flintoff need to get scores down the order to ease the pressure on Pieterson, Strauss and Cook.

With some time off this week I feel it’s important for the lads to get away from cricket for a bit and freshen up physically but also mentally.

We do play a huge amount of cricket and some down time away from the game is vital. I will be spending some time on my new mountain bike with Jim (my labrador) exploring the mountains and the glorious views of Pontypool.