I’LL start this week’s column with a confession.

Since my cricket career was curtailed by injury last season I’ve let myself go a bit.

The lithe, athletic, muscular young stud that I’m sure you all remember patrolling the boundary for Glamorgan has sadly given way to a hint of what is widely know as ‘post-career syndrome’. In short, I’ve got a little bit tubby.

Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, it happens to us all – just look at Steve James. But I fear my ‘coach’s belly’ may become a bit of an issue in about three weeks’ time. You see, I’ve signed myself up for a bike ride from the Swalec Stadium to The Kia Oval in aid of the Tom Maynard Memorial Trust.

Obviously the cause is one very close to my heart and I’ll be joining fellow Argus columnist William Bragg, Freddie Flintoff and a few other hardy souls in attempting the course over two days, arriving at The Oval in time for the Surrey versus Glamorgan Pro40 fixture on August 21.

Hopefully my weekly rides from my house in Griffithstown to the Star of Mamhilad pub will stand me in good stead for the ride, which is 90-odd miles on the first day and over 50 on the second. If not, I could be battling.

For those of you who are looking for a good laugh, you’re welcome to come and give us a cheer along the way, or more importantly you’re welcome to sponsor me and donate to an excellent cause at justgiving.com/ian-williams15 .

Hopefully by the time I ride, wobble or crawl through the gate at The Oval, Glamorgan will be well on the way to putting together a strong finish to the season in all competitions.

Last week’s win against Northamptonshire in the Championship has been a long time coming and I’ll admit there were a few nervous lads on the balcony as we approached our winning total. We chased down over 350, a fantastic effort and only the third time it has been done in the club’s history.

It took a fine collective effort to get us over the line, with excellent half-centuries from Marcus North, Mark Wallace and Jim Allenby.

But it was a fellow man-of-Torfaen John Glover who finished things off with a Michael Bevan-like performance under pressure.

‘Gloves’ has impressed us all with his composure with both bat and ball since coming into the side and he was the calmest man in the ground as he struck a six and two fours batting at number nine to help finish things off.

We haven’t done ourselves justice so far this term. Hopefully we can use that win in Northampton to take plenty of confidence into the back half of the season and finish off with a bang.

Everyone will certainly be working hard to give us the best chance of making that happen on the field. Off the field, for the next three weeks at least, I should probably find some time in my schedule to start addressing what has become a vastly expanding waistline, pull on the lycras and get a few hours in on the bike.

Now where did I put those stabilisers?