Calne's Hampshire all-rounder on life as a professional cricketer.

I was obviously gutted to be left out of last week’s county championship game against Nottingham.

These things happen in sport and in my opinion it’s how how you bounce back from these sort of things that is important.

I’m writing this before the team has been announced for the game against Lancashire but I travelled up with the team on Tuesday hoping to be given a chance if the conditions are suitable.

I mentioned last week how I probably wouldn’t bowl much in four day cricket this year and that was part of the reason I was given for being left out.

The management decided they wanted to play a specilist batsman, which is a bit of a blow as I think of myself as a batsman, but it is their decision and it’s up to me to change their minds.

So I was 12th man but at the same time it was good to see a Wiltshire lad do well when James Vince came into the team. It was brilliant for Vincey to hit 75 on his debut and he played very well. He’s got all the shots in the book and I think he could go all the way in his career.

I was quite close to playing for Chippenham on Saturday but I spoke to Hampshire who said they wanted me to have a bit of a rest and only play one game out of the two days. So I played for Wiltshire in their quarter-final on Sunday and it was disappointing to go out but I enjoyed it.

I never feel the pressure of being a professional coming back into minor counties cricket because I know everyone and they’re a great set of lads who really enjoy playing the game.

They obviously play to win but they also play just as much for the enjoyment and so it was good to play a game with a bit less pressure.

I batted alright for my 25 but it wasn’t an easy wicket to play. Most of us got a start in the game but nobody was able to carry on and make a big score. 175 is a hard score to defend at Corsham and we didn’t really come that close to doing it, which is a shame.

Back to Hampshire, the Lancashire game could be considered must-win after two losses but a draw would be a decent result and give us a some momentum again.

Andrew Flintoff will play for them so it will be interesting to see how he goes.

I’ve never played against him before and I’m not too keen on facing him.