The season ends...

That's it. The season's officially over as the last club match is done. I took a long look back at our picturesque little ground as I went through the gates for the last time. It was bathed in evening sunshine and a couple of rabbits were already sitting on the outfield in readiness for a square meal (get it?)

Sadly, work and family commitments, the inability of the opposition to raise teams and the Scottish weather limited me to only three games this summer. Still, eight wickets for 22 runs and three not out innings wasn't too bad, 3-14 today and an unbeaten 17 sends me into the close season with confidence that I've still got a bit more cricket in me. Martin, our wicket-keeper is 63, so that encourages me, nine years his junior, to keep going for a few more summers.

We lost a wicket in the first over today, which mirrored what has happened in the county game. Did you know that not one single player in division two made a thousand championship runs this summer? Only Hampshire's Jimmy Adams, Kent's Brendan Nash and Ramnaresh Sarwan of Leicestershire got over 900 and there is little doubt that it has been one of the most difficult summers in living memory for batsmen.

In their wisdom, the ECB banned the use of the heavy roller, which evens out the pitch and irregular bounce, to get more results in the county game. It worked pretty well, but large scores were few and far between and an unfortunate consequence is the current dearth of candidates to replace Andrew Strauss as England opener.

Michael Carberry is one option but he looked somewhat at sea in last week's game, albeit on a County Ground track that has done a bit for seamers (especially in the first session) all summer. Unless the regulations on the use of rollers are changed, I foresee opening batsmen having continuing issues in the county game and averages below those that they were accustomed to in days of yore.

Ironic really. Bat on moving tracks all summer and we'll treat you to a rolled, better prepared wicket when you get into the Test side.

The problem being, of course, that few batsmen have convinced enough to actually get there....

One to be revisited, I think. Come to think of it, maybe our opening batsmen didn't do all that badly.