I’M not really keeping an eye on what is happening elsewhere in the country.

You do naturally keep tabs a little bit but we have to look after what we are doing and then hopefully we can stay up — it is as simple as that.

There are still a lot of points to play for as we head for Durham on Monday.

Hopefully, we can get as many as possible from the Sussex game and then we won’t need so many next week.

I think we were pretty mediocre on the first day of the latest LV= County Championship Division One clash.

Alan Richardson aside, I do not think we bowled particularly well.

Moeen Ali did a decent job with his off-spin but we should not have had to bowl so many overs on that pitch. Unfortunately, we did not quite back up Alan or our other bowlers in the field.

There were a few dropped chances, over-throws and misfields — it was not a good display really.

I did not notice any nerves in the camp, everyone seemed reasonably relaxed, but, once the individuals are in the field, I don’t know — only they would be able to tell you whether it has affected them.

I think we have done really well in the last three or four games, particularly with the ball, so I just think it was a bad day for us.

We carried that on in to day two with the ball.

Although we were a little unlucky with a lot of play-and-misses, they got a few too many runs from their last couple of wickets.

We did not really apply ourselves with the bat but you have to give credit to Sussex, they bowled well but we still had wickets in the shed.

We were still in the game at the halfway stage — our aim yesterday morning was to get our tail wagging like theirs did and then look to knock them over as quickly as possible.

Ben Scott has been fantastic during the two seasons he has been on loan here. His signing was something we all wanted to see — from the dressing room to the coaching staff.

I think Scotty is pretty happy here so it is good to have him on board on a permanent basis.

He is great in the dressing room, a fantastic wicketkeeper, lively out in the field and his batting has been very good this year — he is averaging close to 40 and has done well down the order.

He is also a bit of a magician too, so I’ll be looking to develop a few of those tricks over the winter.

It’s really good news that Matt Mason has been awarded a testimonial year.

He has been a great servant for the club and thoroughly deserves it — I’m sure the lads and members will support him.

He’s been here a long time, is very experienced and helps all the bowlers out — he’s another great bloke to have around.

He’s full of energy, highly enthusiastic and is doing a very good job as bowling coach.