JAMES Anderson has been described as cricket's answer to David Beckham after England's win over Zimbabwe and I don't think Lancashire's paceman should be too upset by the comparison.

If James can go on to achieve the sort of consistency and quality that the England football captain has displayed then nobody will be complaining.

Beckham gets his share of criticism but he is a family man and you don't see him in the newspapers for being drunk and causing trouble.

No James, there are far worse comparisons to be made.

But the emergence of people like James is good for English cricket.

We want more people playing and watching cricket and the more success we have at international level the better.

As for me and my Gloucestershire teammates, we are looking to bounce back following the disappointment of losing to Worcestershire at the weekend.

They are always a tough side to play against but too many dropped catches proved costly in the end.

But our C&G Trophy match with Kent gives us a swift opportunity to get back to winning ways.

A Lords final is the incentive at the end of the competition and that's something players and supporters relish.

But there is no doubt that our bread and butter is the championship.

We want to be back playing at the top level and that means getting promotion.

I think splitting the championship into two divisions was a good idea as it means sides have much more to play for and I think the standard of play has risen as a result.

It is important for Gloucestershire to be playing at the highest level though and we will be working hard throughout the season to try and achieve success.

But there is still a long way to go before cups are handed out and promotion and relegation issues are decided.

The football season has only just ended after all or has it?

It would be easy to think that wasn't the case.

After the Wolves play-off game on Monday I noticed the television was immediately plugging a pre-season football tournament.

Where was the mention of cricket?