I’M sad to see Paul Grayson leaving the club because he is someone who has been extremely instrumental in my own career.

I’ve gone from the academy to the second team and then into the first team, where I’ve been for a few years now, under Paul’s guidance and I’ll always owe a lot to him.

But, at the same time, I do think the time is probably right for him to move on to a fresh challenge now and I think he would say the same to be honest.

For whatever reason I think we have underachieved as a team in the past couple of years and we need that to change.

Maybe we all need a fresh start but I’d certainly thank to thank Paul for all the support and guidance he’s given me and I wish him all the very best for whatever he does next.

Joining Paul on the way out is Reece Topley and that’s a really big loss for us.

His departure doesn’t send out the greatest of messages to the rest of the country but he has his own reasons for leaving which are personal to him.

He’s a very good player and also a good friend so it’s obviously disappointing to lose him.

But we need to look to the future now and I do feel as though we still have a very talented squad here.

We have experienced players and some very good youngsters so we can recruit well during the summer then we can still have a successful season next year.

We’ve all been disappointed to lose in the quarter-finals of the cup competitions and not be higher up in the league and we want that to change next year too.

NEW SEASON STARTS NOW

BEFORE the Northants game last week, the new chairman of the cricket committee Ronnie Irani came to speak to us all.

He said that next season starts now and he’s right because we need to build up some momentum.

We responded well and I thought it was a very positive performance against a strong Northants side.

If it wasn’t for the weather then I’m pretty certain we would’ve gone on to win the game and it was good to see.

But we need to keep that going. People from the outside looking in might be looking at the games we have left and saying there’s nothing left to play for but I don’t agree with that at all.

There’s personal pride at stake but most importantly of all we want to sign off on a high and take that form into next season.

PORTER MUST BE ON THE RADAR OF ENGLAND

IT was great news that Jamie Porter signed a new contract at the club this week.

Ports has had a real breakthrough this season and fully deserves to have been shortlisted for an end of season award.

I’m not sure what’s happening in terms of England Performance Centres this winter but, with the season he’s having, I would imagine Ports must be quite close to being involved.