THERE were some emotional scenes on the first day of our match against Lancashire this week when John Crawley announced he is going to retire at the end of the season.

Creepy has been a fantastic servant to Hampshire and England throughout his career and it was an honour to get the chance to play with him.

In my personal opinion he is one of the best English batsman I have seen and to play with him the number of times that I did was fantastic.

I don’t think he’ll stay in cricket, he’ll probably get a job in the city, but I wish him all the best and I’m sure he’ll come back and meet us all for a few beers.

The game against Lancashire ended in a draw and that’s partly because the wicket was so flat – in fact it reminded me of the M27.

It was fantastic to bat on and only 18 wickets fell in three days. The Rose Bowl has been renowned as a poor wicket in the past and the groundsman has worked hard on it.

Giles White is talking to him every day about it but it’s going to take time to get right.

The game was also the first time I’ve been in the same Hampshire team as James Vince and it was good to play with someone I’ve grown up with.

He’s had a brilliant year so far and I’m sure he’ll be at Hampshire for many more to come.

VVS Laxman made 135 for Lancashire in that game and I would have to call him the best batsman I have ever bowled to. He’s just absolute class and it’s easy to see why he was so good for India.

We also beat Yorkshire in the Pro40 last week which was exciting but nerve-racking too.

We needed one off the last ball to win and I was facing Matthew Hoggard. He went for a yorker but got it slightly wrong and allowed me to run a leg-bye.

I also bowled really well in that game and think, in general, it’s a fantastic competition to play in. It will be sad when it stops next year.

We’re playing Yorkshire at Basingstoke at the moment which is a typical club wicket and, hopefully, will be a result wicket for us.