OVER the past week at Kid-derminster we were trying out a new make of ball in our game against Loughborough UCCE and I hope that we never see them again.

Thankfully, Stephen Moore turned into the Incredible Hulk' and blasted quite a few of them out of the ground and they were never to be seen again.

We usually use a Duke ball, but that hasn't been very good, so we were given this new ball - it was horrendous.

It's big in size, the seam goes soft, it goes out of shape and it doesn't really shine - it's not any good for swing.

It's no good for spinners as it is so big in your hands and I would be very disappointed if they got passed through for first-class cricket.

Everyone says that we play too much cricket, whether I agree with that or not is not the point, but if you want to lose a game and I know it would be harsh on the universities, but that is the game that has to go.

Over the course of the season, you may get an extra day's break in between the one-dayers, which for me is a very common-sense way of doing it.

I don't mean any disrespect to the universities, but there is such a massive difference between those first-class matches and the ones we play week-in, week-out.

Tomorrow we face Gloucestershire and Steve Rhodes and Jack Russell will renew their old battle, you could say that it's the battle of the grubby wicketkeepers!

Keepers are renowned for being different and Bumpy keeps us on our toes and I'm sure Jack will be the same with them, but once we get out there it's about the players on the field and we won't be taking a backward step - we will be working hard for four days.

We have got the indian sign over Gloucestershire in four-day cricket, I can't remember them getting a win. Every game I can remember has been a draw where we have played all the cricket or we have won.

I think in general people see our main rivals as Warwickshire but there has been a lot of rivalry with Gloucestershire in my time at the club because of the Lord's finals where they beat us.

Because it was a final, people remember that and not the four-day stuff, but we don't forget that because we have played some very good games against them.

The match against Hampshire on Sunday saw Steve Magoffin and Simon Jones set up victory very nicely.

We let them get away a little bit in the middle of their innings, but Simon Jones and Gareth Andrew had a really good spell at the end that kept Hawks to a score that was probably under par.

But then Vikram Solanki and Steve Davies played fearlessly - the way Greenidge and Haynes used to play in the 1980s - and put Hampshire to the sword.

The pair played shots that are becoming part of modern- day cricket, but which were unheard of only two years ago.

To trounce a team in 27 overs is a very big win and a bitter pill for Hampshire to take. But it shows that we are reaping the rewards of all the hard work put in by the team in previous weeks.