Ryan ten Doeschate / Ryan ten doeschate / 18 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Our county cricketer fills us in on life at Essex and his views on the Twenty20 World Cup semis.

Before we started our Championship match with Kent this week, the Essex coach and captain got us together for the sternest of talks. They said, quite bluntly, that at the moment the table says we are the 17th best team in the country.

We all agreed that was not a fair reflection of the type of side we possess. It was a matter of drawing a line under the start of the season and just contesting every single ball over the next four days at Tunbridge Wells.

The motivation is there. A couple of wins would propel us up the table and, more specifically, back at the start of the season Kent managed to turn us over after we had made them follow on.

Apart from the first session on Day One, it is game we have dominated. It is an out-ground and therefore a result pitch. At the start of Day Three (today) we were leading by over 250 with seven second-innings wickets in hand. We have a bit of work to do but hopefully we can bat on today and then bowl them out.

I feel I am on the right track again with my batting after a valuable 40 in our first innings. Then I got chucked the ball and picked up a couple of important wickets. Perhaps the T20 World Cup has 'freed me up' a little.

Despite a highly disappointing start so far, our season is still in our own hands. We are not too far adrift of the leading pack if we get on a run.

There has been attention on our one-day success in recent years but the main aim is still to be in Division One in the Championship. Over the last couple of seasons we have struggled for batting points and not put up totals for the bowlers to bowl at.

Yes, we are a young, energetic side, so that favours one-day cricket. Last year, we won the Friends Provident Trophy, the Pro40 Division Two and reached Twenty20 Finals day. But we can't harp on about being a youthful side forever, it is time to deliver wickets and runs.

We need to get back to a winning culture, after that we'll target any competition that we can.

I had never played at Tunbridge Wells before this week and I have to say it is a fantastic setting with beautiful views right around the ground. The most impressive thing has been the number of spectators and that has made for a real festival atmosphere.

For me, festival cricket is great just as long they are played on pitches conducive to a first-class game. Places like Colchester, Southend, Whitgift School and, from what I hear, Scarborough are all wonderful places to play. There is a different feel and great tradition. I think it is pretty much unique to England.

This week's Kent crowd has been fantastic. They have not had much to cheer about but they have been applauding all the Essex boundaries. So credit to them for that.

To be honest, there has been no residual benefit for county cricket from the T20 World Cup party but the tournament is still going on with the semi-finals taking place over the next couple of days.

South Africa are still my favourites. Perhaps the only thing I would say is that they have not posted a huge score yet. So if Pakistan do fire and put up 150 or so in today's game it would give South Africa the burden of chasing a big total for the first time. They have been relying on AB de Villiers with the bat until now while the pace of Parnell and Steyn has been crucial.

I had the pleasure of playing with Dale Steyn at Essex. With my South African background, we connected quite well and I ended up showing him around the place.

I remember on the second day after he arrived we played against Suffolk for the seconds and I stood as far back at slip as I ever have. He generated some serious speed.

He already had that natural pace but perhaps he was a little wayward. He went back to South Africa and worked on a few things. Now he is world class and capable of swinging the ball at pace. He puts everything into every ball and must have been mentally strong to have reached the No 1 rank in the world.

I'll stick with Sri Lanka in the other semi-final, but I am slightly less confident. They do have quality spinners and the pace of Malinga, meanwhile Dilshan has been fine form with the bat and Jayawardene has come to life with a couple of great innings after looking scratchy early on. However I am not going to make too many predictions about that West Indies team. They have amazed me three for times this summer when I thought that they are dead and buried.

However, right now, my only aim is to prove Essex's season has not gone the same way.