WHAT an advert for Test cricket the Edgbaston game turned out to be, three-and-a-half days of dramatic Ashes action which, if you got through it, must mean that your 'old ticker' is in good shape.

It was really pleasing to see Kent’s Geraint Jones take that really crucial last catch to win the game and tie the series.

I thought he had a really good game with the gloves and was unfortunate to be dismissed by two of the best balls in the entire match.

Hopefully the media critics will now get behind him and the England team and give them the support they truly deserve after such a performance.

England are up against the World champions and are putting up one heck of a fight and, whether the Ashes return to England or not, I feel the team has given the fans a lot to be proud of.

If they are to conquer the modern day cricketing challenge they are going to need every bit of support and help they can get along the way.

To my mind Rickie Ponting’s choice to bowl first in Birmingham was very surprising but we will never know if ultimately that decision cost Australia the game.

He possibly thought, maybe as a result of the first Test and the result at Lord’s, that England's batsmen would come out and play very cautiously.

In the past that has tended to be the case, but this is a very different England team, they are far more positive and courageous.

Their old mind set seamed to be one of not wanting to lose, but the new mindset, which was first evident in South Africa last winter and particularly at the fourth Test at The Wanderers, is to move the game forward rapidly and to exert pressure on the opposition by doing so.

It is this new England mindset that certainly causes discomfort to the Aussies.

Back at Kent Darren Stevens and Andrew Hall were our stars for the Canterbury Cricket Week.

For a couple of games now I have felt that Andrew was on the brink of producing something big with the bat, but in the game with Glamorgan he contributed greatly with bat and ball.

He really is a determined competitor and, even though he had spent a lot of time at the crease, he was very anxious to get the ball in hand and blow away the Glamorgan batsmen, which he did in fine style.

It was pretty impressive bowling stint when considering he had no rest once we in enforced the follow-on.

'Stevo’s' innings was an absolute gem, full of elegant and classy strokes and was an innings that showed how desperate he is for his new team to succeed.

He came to the crease with Kent in a tough situation on a seaming pitch, but showed the impressive qualities of application and concentration.

It is these very qualities that have apparently been lacking in his game in previous years, but Darren now seems focussed to do well, not just for himself, but for his team-mates.

Sadly, our totesport League performance on Sunday against Surrey was another very disappointing one.

It is one of the areas the players and I are keen to improve on and though everyone understands one of our top-order players must bat through if we are to be successful, we don’t seem to be able to quite get that right.

We have only scored one limited overs’ century this season, that was at Bath against Somerset by Martin van Jaarsveld and, as a result, we posted 300 and won the match convincingly.

Big individual scores from our top order have been the key to our pleasing championship performances, but the lack of big individual scores has been our downfall in limited overs cricket and this is something we have to get right for next summer.