ALTHOUGH this season has been a disappointment, it was never going to be the case that winning promotion from Division Two of the LV= County Championship would be easy.

We have won four four-day games so far this season and if we could have managed six, we would have been a lot closer to the promotion places, but it wasn’t to be.

However, we want to finish the season as strongly as possible and Northamptonshire still have a lot to play for as they only need five points to secure promotion.

Looking at the league table, we can still finish fourth or as low as seventh if results go against us, so there is a lot to play for.

Pace bowler Chris Russell comes back into the team in place of Graeme Cessford this week. Chris was initially out of the team on form, but he then picked up an injury playing for the seconds.

Since that injury, he has bowled well for the seconds and it will be good to see how he has progressed and he will be keen to show what he can do in the first team.

The game will be played on a used pitch, so we will probably be going in with two spinners, which gives Shaaiq Choudhry a chance to impress. He has played a good role for us this season, but it is never easy being the second spinner in a side as your chances can be limited depending on the pitches we play on.

I thought Northants were outstanding when we played them at their place earlier in the season. They are a strong side and they bat a long way down — the tail and lower order have often scored runs this season to get them out of trouble.

Moeen Ali was named in the England Performance Programme squad yesterday and he has really come of age this season and has taken on a lot of our batting responsibility. He has been outstanding and has been our main batsmen in the four-day game.

He won’t have been too far away from a call-up to the actual Ashes squad and will have certainly been talked about in conversations between the selectors.

Mo is one of a few guys who are next in line for the full England side and, you never know, if someone in the senior squad gets a broken digit, Mo could find himself playing in the Ashes this winter.