THERE were a number of factors in thwarting our push for the win against Sussex at Hove in the LV= County Championship, the weather being one, plus some Sussex resistance with the bat and the nature of the pitch.

It's frustrating that Sussex negated our seam attack by preparing a placid pitch, but that's something we can't control.

We are just fortunate that we're in a decent position in the league and we've got two home games to come where we can dictate the surface.

We're just making sure that we maintain our consistency, and hopefully we'll get there.

I guess there's an element of people being scared of coming up against us, particularly towards the back end of the season when we're at different ends of the table.

We all know that from season to season that changes, but this year Sussex are down there.

You do what you have to as a club, and they are backing themselves to get points elsewhere.

Although it's frustrating for us, it's out of our hands, and we'll move on to the Somerset game next week.

We've got four games left, and if we play good cricket and get a couple of wins, that will seal it.

I felt really good during my half-century in the first innings.

In fact, I probably felt as fluent as I have done all season. I was disappointed I didn't get three figures, but I know that will come if I continue to play as I did.

I'm sure along the way I'll also get a bit of good fortune. My dismissal, chopped onto leg bail, has probably added to the list of ways I've got out but I was happy with my time in the middle.

I want to contribute to the team success during the closing stages of the season, and if I can do that and we win the Championship, I'll take the way this season has panned out for the next ten years.

I know if I keep trusting what I do as a batsman, I will get some good fortune.

It might not be this year, but it could be next year or in the winter, depending on what happens there.

I'm a glass half-full guy rather than glass half-empty, so I'm sure I'll soon get given a few that go my way by Mother Cricket.

We face Essex in today's quarter-final of the Royal London One-Day Cup, and we have nothing to lose.

It's no secret that as a team in one-day cricket over the last few years, we've gone missing.

They're the team with a good one-day pedigree, so the pressure's all on them.

They're at home and know the dimensions of a ground we haven't been to for a few years now but we're looking forward to the challenge with our England players back. It will be a tight contest, I'm sure.