The World Cup has only just finished, the Indian Premier League swings into action tomorrow (Friday) and we are putting the final touches to our preparation ahead of the new Championship season beginning against Essex at Chelmsford.

It’s been a busy winter for me personally. Four months in Australia, then back home for regular indoor nets at Canterbury, then 10 days in Dubai, before our first competitive pre-season workout against Lancashire at Beckenham last week.

The World Cup was a great spectacle and shows that 50 overs-a-side still works in international cricket and left me feeling I would love to be part of that in the future.

The final was between the two best teams in the competition in those conditions and I think the South African coach Gary Kirsten has done a great job with India.

I was cheering for Sri Lanka, though, because of their strong connections with Kent – Lasith Malinga, Murali, Bandara, Paul Farbrace, working as assistant coach and Aravanda de Silva now chairman of their selectors.

Sadly, though, Murali tweaked a hamstring and wasn’t able to bow out of international cricket the way he wanted but he has been so wonderful over the years, finishing with 800 Test wickets.

The Lancashire game last week saw us make a pretty big statement about where we are on the eve of the new season.

I think we had the edge over them for two days, most of the batters looked in good nick, although I missed out myself and the bowlers looked sharp.

We bowled and fielded better than them as well.

Personally I feel comfortable about my own game but am not looking to put a lot of pressure on myself and want to go out, enjoy it and hopefully reap the rewards at the end of it.

I would like to get off to a good start and feel more excited than nervous about the season which is a good thing.

We haven’t talked too much as a group yet but I think the pressure is off us this season.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of talent in the group and we could easily go straight back up into Division 1 but I don’t think it’s as crucial as it was the last time we were relegated.

The financial situation means we have a small squad, with some of the youngsters having a part to play in the three competitions.

I am still only 21 myself and apart from me, Matt Coles and Alex Blake, there is Adam Riley, Adam Ball, Ashley Shaw, James Goodman and Chris Piesley who could all come in and do a job.

It’s a good time to be a youngster at Kent, especially as a bowler with all these guys looking to fulfil their potentital.

Iam also excited about Daniel Bell Drummond who looks a good player.

The ground redevelopment is taking shape and Canterbury is an exciting place to be at the moment. We are going forward but maybe not as quickly as some would like.

Blakey and I are both Spurs supporters, so there has been plenty of talk about the Champions League this week and the first leg tie in Mdrid.

I think many Spurs fans get ahead of themselves sometimes and we have got to be pretty grounded in our expectations.