WHERE do you start when you talk about Graeme Hick? He has had such a special career.

I know when I was growing up there were two players that stood out — Ian Botham and Hicky.

When I was a kid I had two Graeme Hick 405 bats and years down the line I have been fortunate to play in the same side as him — it is truly an honour.

One thing for sure is that I’m glad he is on my side because I wouldn’t fancy bowling at him on those short boundaries at Kidderminster.

Hicky told us all last week in our team meeting on the Monday. It was very short and then he told us to start thinking about the game against Warwickshire — that is Graeme all over.

The day after he announced his retirement to the world he was the first man in the dressing room, even though he was injured, after doing a 45-minute run!

But I have been thinking, how do you replace someone like Graeme? The simple answer is you can’t, you just have to move on and strive to win matches without him.

When he announced his retirement it was a strange day because you didn’t know whether you should celebrate such a glittering 25-year career or feel sad because you are losing a true great.

There won’t be another player like him, that is for sure.

He has scored more than 60,000 runs and taken over 1,000 catches, who else could do that? I can quite honestly say that no-one will get close.

Graeme will go down among the greats of the game and there aren’t that many.

Hicky is quite a quiet chap in the dressing room but he does have a mischievous side to him, especially when it comes to taking the mickey out of ginger blokes who turn up with stupid little haircuts from time to time.

He enjoys the odd prank and playing practical jokes, but overall he is an intelligent, quiet gentleman.

There aren’t enough words that could sum Graeme up, he is all of those and more.

I bet there is a part of Graeme that is sad that he won’t be able to finish his career at New Road because of the floods, but when he came to England he played club cricket at Kidderminster and that is where it will finish.

Every time Graeme plays there these days he scores a hundred, so Middlesex beware.

These floods were only supposed to happen in the summer once every 20 or 30 years and yet we are in the grips of another.

Gareth Andrew had never seen anything like it and he was moving my kit in the dressing room — so hopefully it is all safe!

We are training in Cardiff today as we take on Glamorgan tomorrow and then I suppose we will spend a couple of days training at Kidderminster.

We have already spent a few days down there this season training so it is not too much of a disruption.