IT'S an exciting time for football fans at the moment with the arrival of the World Cup in South Africa.

Having travelled there on numerous occasions I’m pleased things have gone to plan so far.

Cape Town has been my most frequently visited city and it’s probably the best place I have been in the world.

I feel at times the city and country is given a lot of bad press from people who have probably not been there.

There are areas where you wouldn’t want to be late at night but there are also parts of London and Cardiff where you may feel unsafe or vulnerable.

There are some fantastic places to visit and plenty of good bars and restaurants to relax in.

The only downside so far has been the lack of excitement in the majority of opening games. Quite a contrast to the start of our Twenty20 campaign!

We had a fantastic start to the competition winning our first three games including an outstanding display against Essex in Chelmsford.

Set a target of 191 runs to win Tom Maynard and Mark Cosgrove showed what ability and talent they have by sharing a hundred run partnership to win us the game.

I have mentioned previously in this diary that Tom Maynard is destined for bigger things and I believe he should be looked at for at least an England Lions spot in the one day format.

It has also been fascinating to watch our very own Shaun Tait bowling for Glamorgan.

When watching on television you can’t really get a feel for how quick the ball travels.

Watching him bowl live is quite an experience and just shows you what real pace is! I know my mate Mark Wallace has found it a fantastic experience to keep wicket to such pace even though it has cost him a few byes over his head!

Shaun has fitted in really well at Glamorgan with the lads making him feel very welcome and hopefully it’s the start of a long term relationship between both parties.

Being involved in Twenty20 cricket is a totally different feeling to a normal four day fixture.

We have 16 games in total in the competition with games starting at different times during the day.

Some have started at 11am, some at 7.30pm and some at 2.30pm.

The later games almost give you a day off so some of the lads have been touching up on their golf skills. I decided to have my first game in a while last week along with Mark Wallace and a few friends.

The golf was going beautifully until a buggy mishap as we rounded a corner and skidded straight into a small tree! There must be something in the air with sportsman and golf buggies at the moment!

I’m sure a lot of you have noticed that our games have been covered by S4C.

It has been good to show the game on terrestrial television to viewers without Sky Sports. It has been widely recognised with over 112,000 viewers tuning in to our last game against Sussex in Cardiff.

If you have been watching the coverage you would have seen our very own Dave's Coaches aka Dave from the series Gavin and Stacey.

Steffan (Dave) has been promoting our games around the country and I was lucky enough along with two of the lads to meet up with Steffan at Marco`s Cafe on Barry Island this week.

We were promoting our Beach Party themed fixture ironically against Essex in Cardiff on Saturday.

It meant Steffan sat on a deck chair on the beach and us lads making a nuisance of ourselves around him with a bat and ball! It was good fun and Stef is a nice guy and really enjoys his cricket.

With a bit more spare time on my hands with the T20 fixtures spread out I managed to get a game for my club team Ynysygerwn last Saturday.

As it happened we were playing against Port Talbot who had Mark Wallace and Ian Thomas in their ranks, both of whom are very good friends of mine.

It was enjoyable to say the least especially as I got mark out caught behind in the early stages and also caught Ian on the boundary when he was winning the game for Port Talbot.

We ended up winning the game comfortably and I managed to pick up five wickets for the team. You can imagine how much stick I have given the boys since...

Having won our first three games in the T20 we have had a slight dip losing our last two games.

We have not got too down hearted as these two games were against arguably two of the strongest sides in the competition.

Sussex are an outstanding one day team with a number of international cricketers they can call up on for any situation.

Our loss against Middlesex was a little more one sided but again their side oozed talent.

Seeing Adam Gilchrist in the flesh was a bit strange but watching him bat was a sight I thought I might never see as a cricketer.

He is one of Mark Wallace`s all time hero’s and he said keeping wicket to him was a surreal experience. Alongside Gilchrist they had the likes of Owain Morgan and Owais Shah. These three players alone all play IPL cricket in India which speaks volumes for their talent.

There are still eleven games left in the T20 and if we can win six of our remaining games I think we can guarantee a quarter final spot.

Finally I would like to wish a friend of mine Mathew Francombe all the best for his third MMA fight tomorrow night in the Newport Centre.

Unfortunately I can’t be there but would like to pass on a good luck message to Franky from all the Glamorgan lads.