A Bank Holiday weekend! We have a televised Pro40 match televised on Monday against Warwickshire that I’m not playing in. I might go and watch a bit, or if its cold, I might just flick between it and what is bound to be a ‘Bankers Bank Holiday Bonanza’ edition of Deal or No Deal in the comfort of my own home. They will probably lose the £250,000 in the first round, end up with the 1p and I will turn over to Extreme Make-over: Home Edition after 10 minutes.

Pretty much a whole days rain over the last four days put pay to a result against promotion rivals Glamorgan at the County Ground, Northampton, last week. We lost the toss on a wicket that was doing a lot for the seamers on the first day but an excellent 160 from ex-housemate Steven Peters and some poor bowling from the Glammy boys meant that we made 350, probably 100 runs more than they would have liked. The wicket then turned out to be a very good batting deck as wickets became pretty hard to come by. The game petered out to the inevitable draw and we were able to finish an hour early. In games like this one, teams should be able to shake hands at the tea interval. Both sets of players and the umpires knew where it was heading and the front-line bowlers had stopped bowling shortly after lunch in order to preserve their bodies for the last four matches.

Our draw, along with the draw that Essex had with Leicestershire had, meant that no team has made any progress away from each other in order to get the second promotion place. Currently, Kent look odds-on favourites to be promoted in first place, but a loss by them could still see two other teams snatch the top two places if results go their way.

The Second Division of the County Championship is definitely where the excitement is! Durham look to have all but mathematically won the £350,000 prize money for first place in the First Division which means that if Northants are still in contention come our final game then it could be televised for all four days on Sky Sports. A good opportunity for us to show off our Championship form to the rest of the country.

Competition for places in the bowling department is very strong at the moment. I was rotated in the previous game and Johan Van Der Wath missed the Glamorgan game with illness. Jack Brooks, the newest member of the attack, had another good game this week. He bowled economically without much luck but still picked up two wickets in the game.

Dave Lucas is still our leading wicket-taker, by some distance. So, with Van Der Wath presumably returning for our next fixture against Middlesex at home I guess I might have another unsettled build up wondering if I will get the nod or the dreaded tap on the shoulder with the phrase ‘you’re going to miss out this game I’m afraid, Wiggers’. Time will tell.

I’ve had a frustrating last week! I was ‘rested’ as part of our ‘rotation’ system for the County Championship match against Derbyshire, at Chesterfield. It was frustrating, not only because I had to spend the entire four days filling up water-bottles with different players’ requests and being a general ‘go-fer’, but also because I had to watch a match dominated by seam bowling on a wicket that I would have loved to roll up and take home with me!

However, once my sulking had subsided, I was able to watch the team chalk up another impressive win, although closer than we would have hoped! It put us in a very strong position going into the final 5 games, and promotion in 2nd place is a distinct possibility.

I write this on the eve of our next match which is at home against Glamorgan. I’ve not been so keen for a match in a long while. I am again in the squad of 12 and I have been given the nod to play by the Captain. However, when I wasn’t in the last team, I am never totally sure I’m playing in the next until my name gets placed on the official slip and the coach has signed it off!

I hate not knowing if I am playing or not. It sounds silly, but I often don’t sleep very well, with all the various team possibilities spinning round in my head and what my arguments for discussion might be if I’m not selected. People tell me not to worry about it, but it’s not that easy. It’s not so much worry; more the fact I just like to know what I’m doing the next morning! I like to prepare mentally, as well as physically. I guess it boils down to the fact I like to relax, that is probably my mental preparation. Even when selected, I am a lot more settled once I know how the toss has panned out for us. The 2nd day onwards I am a lot better and can just relax!

After the disappointment of being left out at Chesterfield, all negative emotions were thrown out of the window on Sunday when I watched the national team win back the Ashes!

At 27-years-old, I have played against many of the England squad in seasons past. I enjoyed congratulating Monty on his contribution when I saw him at training this morning, but mostly I enjoyed watching Graeme Swann take the final wicket.

It was such a great moment, and one completely different to 2005. Apart from anything else, the whole team were out on the field together and had to win the match to win the Ashes. In 2005, the team took the field together in the final session, having already won the series, and simply had to complete the formalities in what was a certain draw for the last 2 hours of the game. There was Kevin Pieterson’s very special century, but there was no huge climax which saw 11 playing swamping each other.

Also, the 2005 team was very much a tale of the walking wounded with Flintoff, (who was lucky enough to make a comeback), Ashley Giles, Simon Jones and Michael Vaughan (who are all either retired, or were never quite the same), all collapsing physically after an extremely demanding series.

This team, Flintoff aside, are young and fresh. They have still a lot of progress to make individually, but they will take so much confidence from this series win. Andrew Strauss is lucky to be able to take this team on and work with them. The 2005 Ashes was a product of several years’ hard work, and finished the story off nicely. The 2009 Ashes, you feel, is just the start.