I HAVE to be honest and say it has been something of a disappointing start for Kent.

You build yourself up and are really geed up for the start of the season knowing you're playing the big boys Sussex, the reigning champions in the competition, and though everyone was up for our opener in Hove we got out-played.

It was a game in which they got a heck of a lot right and where we showed glimpses of getting things right without managing to maintain it.

We chatted long and hard before the match about game plans when batting against Mushy but clearly we came second on that score.

Our batters got in, but didn’t have a big enough impact on the game which was what Richard Montgomerie did so well for them by making such a big score.

Had he not done that it might have been a very different contest all together, so hats off to him, and although I felt we had our plans in place it was just a question that we were never in a position to implement them.

The four-day re-match game against Sussex represents a huge challenge to our guys. We’ve been able to lick our wounds since Hove and, although I keep saying this, they’re one hell of a good group when it comes to the work ethic.

In the practice arena and in our build up it all looks good, but we need now to relate that to our competitive games and once we do we have the capability of winning matches.

For me it’s a question of whether my proverbial glass of water is half full or half empty and I like to believe it is very much the former.

Despite the defeat against Sussex there were times in that game where we might have kicked on to take more control.

In our one-day games too, the top order has underperformed but we have still seen some batting displays full of character from Rob Key and James Tredwell at The Oval and then Joe Denly in Belfast.

Rob’s century was the best one-day innings I’ve seen him play in my time with Kent, and I can’t say enough about Joe’s hundred against Ireland.

He played with the confidence and good sense of a seasoned professional against an attack fresh from the World Cup and who bowled in good areas virtually throughout.

A lot of our guys struggled to come to terms with that pitch in Belfast, but Joe did exactly the job we needed. He showed how quickly he is coming to terms with the professional game by going on to play a magnificent innings.

Now the World Cup is over county cricket will come to the public’s attention a little more but I have to say, the competition went on far too long.

Although the best team clearly won, come the end people had lost interest which is something the organisers must get right for next time.

I felt the Aussies got it just about right. Their selection was spot on and, with such strength in depth and so many strong characters in their side, it would have needed ideal conditions and an inspired performance from Muralitharan if Sri Lanka were ever going to touch them.