Underway, finally. It took us a couple of attempts to get underway but we managed to do so on Monday at Port Soif. And what a game to start. Last over victory with everyone contributing and a debutant smacking 2 boundaries to see us over the line.

Sunday was a real damp squib with only a few overs possible in all of the games. Groundstaff, players, umpires and coaches tried in vain as the showers refused to go away.

As a 31 year old cricketer I've seen my fair share of rainy days but rainy days when you're in a tournament always seem a little more stressful.

Some people love it, have a sleep, read the paper, crosswords, sudoku, tv and the perusing of some material not suitable for a family website, are all methods of relaxation my team mates of the past 15 years have applied.

To be honest I'm useless at rain breaks and would be best described as the dressing room fidget. Ever since a 2nd team game for Gloucestershire, when we'd had a session off the field and the umpires walked in and said we're out in 5 minutes. They did so as I stood already showered and putting the finishing touches to a windsor knot in preparation for dinner that evening. We went out for 7 overs I scratched about in virtual darkness and got hit in the head ducking a bouncer that didn't get up. I hate waiting to bat and I hate rain. Needless to say I didn't enjoy Sunday although no blows to the head and thankfully no formal dress for dinner.

On to the cricket at hand, played two and won two. We've improved through both games and have showed some real character to date. The win against Gibraltar was a gutsy effort and fantastic as everyone contributed at key points. I was really pleased for the likes of Ben Ferbrache, Jamie Nussbaumer and Kris Moherndl who stepped up to the mark and proved a bit to themselves and the local cricket fraternity.

Gibraltar played as well as I've ever seen them and I really felt for them. Losing in a game as close as that is always hard to take. Every moment where a few runs could of been saved or scored gets poured over and examined and the inevitable sentiments of "if only" is what resides in your belly.

Today's (Tuesday) performance was solid if not spectacular. It was particularly pleasing as we executed all of our disciplines well. Our bowling, fielding and batting was much closer to how we can play, as we kept Japan to 150 for 8 in 50 overs and chased them down for 3 in 39 overs. Ross Kneller made his debut and I was lucky enough to share an unbroken partnership of 92 with him to finish off the game. The powers that be saw it appropriate to give me the man of the match award but I was particularly pleased with the offering from Japan's coach, Richard Laidler. I was presented with a head band with some Japanese writing on it. What it says I'm yet to decipher however I'm positive its either a great honour or an awesome joke. Watch this space.

Bahrain are next on the cards tomorrow at the KGV. There have been some big scores around so far in the tournament which reflects well on our hardworking groundstaff and the investment the GCB has made over recent years. Fingers crossed for another big performance tomorrow and a highscoring game for the spectators.