SO my new ‘post-captaincy’ life is fully under way and there have been some exciting times already.

There has been a few runs for me and a few victories in the last week, as the season moves into a period of make-or-break matches.

The hullaballoo over the change of captain is over and I am now able to get on with my career, with James Foster able to get on with his job as captain in all formats.

And he could not have had a finer start to his tenure in the Championship as we disposed of Nottinghamshire – one of the best sides in the country – inside three days at Chelmsford.

It was a fantastic last day in what was an interesting match, given we went into the game with only two seamers and the ball did not turn as we thought it would but they crumbled on the final day.

Maurice Chambers was the star of the show, taking ten wickets in the match which hit me in the pocket as it meant another trip to Nandos for all Maurice could eat.

The penny seems to have dropped with Maurice and he is bowling superbly at the moment.

We have known what a talent he is for a while now and people are sitting up and taking notice.

Compare him to the England bowlers and he has some way to go. They do not just have a couple of five-fors behind them and bowl as fast in their second and third spells as they do in their first and that is something Maurice has to do now.

The schedule does not help the fast bowlers – it’s not as if they go into each game fresh.

I was not exactly prolific against Notts, gloving one down the leg-side in the first innings for ten and was then on the receiving end of a jaffa from Andre Adams in the second innings when on 11.

It was a non-descript innings and it’s never nice to have your poles knocked out of the ground like mine were by Adams.

Andre has come on a lot since he was at Essex. He nibbles it both ways off the seam, swings it a bit and does not bowl many bad balls.

Danish marked his departure from us by mopping up the tail with four late wickets, the last of which was a rather comical affair.

He has been bowling a number of deliveries from pretty much behind the umpire in Twenty20 cricket and did it on this occasion, only it was a rank full toss.

Thankfully it was swiped straight into the hands of Maurice on the boundary.

THERE were no complaints from me when we learned the Twenty20 away fixture against Kent was to be played at The Oval – the home of Surrey – because I have scored plenty of runs there in the past.

I understand Kent are trying to tap into their London fanbase and if it is financially feasible then fair enough.

However, I spent the whole morning before the game going through Surrey’s bowling attack in my head.

It did not cause too big a problem, though, as I scored a quick 51 and we crept over the line, just as we have done in a few Twenty20 games this season.

If any other counties wish to come and play their home games at the Oval they are more than welcome. Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire are you listening?

Our poor home record reared its ugly head against Somerset on Sunday, despite Ravi Bopara’s best efforts.

With Ryan ten Doeschate and Napes out injured, we are without our two most regular boundary clearers and we do miss them.

It is not often Ravi will score a century like he did and be on the losing side but hopefully he has played his way back into the Test side.

The commentators were saying how he was laughing and joking after taking a wicket for England against Bangladesh but anyone who knows him will know that that is how he is.

He enjoys his cricket and plays with a smile and there is nothing wrong with that.

I never really got going against Somerset, scoring 21 off 20 balls, as we tried to keep wickets in hand and have a blast at the end.

Marcus Trescothick showed how it is done and we are now in a situation where we need one win to seal a place in the quarter-final.

I’m hoping for an away game if we get through – controverisal you might think – but our away form has been excellent.