BEING dropped from the first team can be tough and can leave you a bit down but it’s part of sport and you have to stay positive.

I was told that I hadn’t been scoring enough runs and that I wasn’t going to be in the first team this week – I think it was a bit harsh because it’s always difficult to score runs at the start of the season but that was that.

I then went and scored 154 for the second team in the first innings of a game at Taunton.

It is frustrating to be dropped but all you can do is score runs and take wickets for the second team. I’m happy that I managed to do that straight away and I have to carry on doing it.

Second team cricket is a lot easier and when you go and play that, you have to go out there and dominate – I need to start getting big scores for the first team to get back in.

The game against Somerset actually ended as a draw because we weren’t able to bowl them out but it was good experience for the young bowlers because it was tough on a flat wicket, which is what they’ll come up against more when they play first-team cricket.

Obviously, I still want to see the guys do well and it was great that we finally got that first win of the season.

Sussex is a tricky place to go and if you look at the table, we’re up to sixth already with just one win.

If we get another one, then we could be up to fourth. If we could be in the top three of four by August, then who knows what could happen in September?

We’ve had a tricky start but we’re doing alright in the one-day games so far and hopefully we’ve got a decent chance of being in every competition when we get towards the end of the season.