Since last week we have had a badly rain affected draw with Essex and a great home win in the London derby against Middlesex.

The Essex game was a strange one, we spent most of day 2 off the pitch, not for rain but for bad light. It was hugely frustrating, especially as Essex had such a depleted bowling attack.

It seemed strange that we were off as Essex were bowling Monty Panesar from one end and a medium pacer from the other. It certainly wasn't dangerous for the batsmen...I was one of them and was certainly trying to keep the umpires out there for as long as possible.

In the end they decided that it was dangerous for the fielders, especially those fielding close to the bat. What made it more frustrating for us was that we were ahead of the game, a lead of 35 with four 1st innings wickets still intact.

That was basically where it ended with heavy overnight raining quickly putting a halt to proceedings on the final day. Credit to the umpires who quickly realised there wasn't going to be a positive result and common sense prevailed...it's not always the case.

During rain breaks, people keep themselves entertained in various ways. During home games especially, you will see the younger guys playing a game of changing room cricket. There will be the odd guy sleeping. One of our lads, Arun Harinath, is currently studying for his second degree, so he is often seen with his head in a book.

Me, I'm usually on twitter or the internet having a browse...seeing if I can spot who is going to be Man Utd's first high profile signing under Louis Van Gaal. Louis if you're reading, I'd like Fabregas - thanks!

After the disappointment of Chelmsford, we had one day before Middlesex came south of the river for our first derby of the season. Once you get this far into the season, where games come so thick and fast, the coaching staff like to leave it to the individual to decide what they need to do in order to prepare.

This month for example we are playing competitive cricket 5 days out of 7 every week so down time is as valuable as practicing. With the new layout of the season though, it means that you have to switch in and out of formats every week which is far from ideal.

Friday was also my first t20 game as captain and I was actually a bit nervous in the lead up. The game was on TV so I knew that it would be under scrutiny if things didn't go to plan.

Fortunately we won and won convincingly as well. At the toss the pitch looked like a fairly regulation t20 wicket and in fact Dan Christian, the Middlesex captain, said he was going to have a bat had he won the flick.

It was understandable but in actual fact the wicket had been under cover for 3 days in a row and was very damp underneath the surface, making it perfect for seam bowling. No one was to know that if you weren't at the ground in the days leading up to the game and obviously with it being a home game for us, the groundsman wasn't giving Middlesex any clues.

went pretty much according to plan from the start after my mate Paul Stirling edged through to me off Jade in the second over. We rolled them for 117 and spoke at the break about how their heads would drop almost immediately if we didn't give them a sniff.

We put on 50 for the first wicket and from there the game was won. It was nice to get a few runs and kill the game off at the end, while disappointing that I was not there to see the winning runs scored.

It was probably the strangest dismissal I've had, the ball sticking between the legs of keeper Adam Rossington, him taking it at the third attempt. For me though, it was all about winning the game and getting the two points.

Next week we welcome back Kevin Pietersen into the side. It's going to be difficult to leave someone out of a winning team and whoever misses out will be very unlucky and have a good case to be annoyed. For the management, its a good, if tricky position to be in.