I was pleased to walk off at Lord’s with 63 not out to my name in the win against Middlesex on Monday and it’s a feeling you can’t beat.

This time last week there was even a question mark over whether I would be in the side but then Joe Denly broke his thumb, giving me the chance, at least for the next three weeks, to open the innings.

It’s given me a platform to build on and while I took great pride from my knock, Martin van Jaarsveld takes all the praise for the victory.

It had been disappointing to miss out the day before in the live TV game but I had to be back up the next day for the game at Lord’s. The bowlers did such a great job on a decent deck to leave us chasing only 177, and my role was playing second fiddle to Jarre who played a near perfect one-day innings and eased the pressure on me.

My innings wasn’t at all flamboyant, I just had to stay there, play proper cricket shots and was happy for Jarre to have most of the strike.

He is a class act and hopefully he can now produce some big scores in the four-day game.

The way the bowlers performed was sensational but we must not put too much expectation on these youngsters. The injury situation at the club, especially having a small squad anyway and the prospect of these guys leading the attack is worrying.

Adam Ball made a big impression on everyone in his championship debut against Gloucestershire last week.

He made 46 and put all of us to shame up top and made it look so easy. He also bowled well. He can swing the ball back into you and also produces one that goes across batsmen, and certainly tied down the Gloucestershire guys. He is certainly one to lookout for in the future.

In previous years somebody like Adam might have been a little nervous stepping into the Kent dressing room for the first time. Not now though, because everybody knows each other.

We are a tight unit and when there is a new kid on the block – he’s 18 by the way, Adam Riley 19, and Ashley Shaw 20 – it feels pretty normal. And I am only 21 myself.