WE played pretty well in our LV= County Championship Division One match against Yorkshire at Scarborough although ultimately it ended in a seven-wicket defeat.

Despite producing some good cricket, we ran into Jonny Bairstow, who has been in the best form of his life, and he batted superbly in both innings.

I know I was the opposition captain but Bairstow played some tremendous strokes.

We also batted well at times — it’s important to remember we were playing against the reigning champions and current leaders, who have a five-pronged seam attack and Adil Rashid.

We managed to score almost 600 runs in the match and not that many sides can say they’ve done that against an outstanding Yorkshire side.

You don’t often end up on the losing side after scoring that many runs.

Joe Clarke and Ross Whiteley both batted exceptionally well. In the first innings, Joe made 88 from 125 balls and came to the crease after we had slipped to 53-2.

He’s only 19 and showed what a talented performer he is.

Joe showed he can play on the big stage against the likes of Ryan Sidebottom, Tim Bresnan and Liam Plunkett.

He was unfortunate not to score a century and probably deserved to get one for his efforts.

It was great to see Ross hit 101 in the second innings.

He’s been full of confidence against the white ball but Ross showed what he can do against the red ball and definitely vindicated his selection with a magnificent innings.

It was a gut feeling to include Ross in the side and I am hoping this will kickstart his four-day career because he’s played a lot of white-ball cricket for us.

I am sure many people are just as engrossed in the Ashes series as I am.

I was fortunate to be watching at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff when England won the first Test.

I believe Bairstow fully deserves his call-up for this week’s third Test at Edgbaston — he was hitting our good balls for four.

The series is set up after Australia’s victory at Lord’s and I am sure England will be desperate to bounce back at Edgbaston this week.

The Ashes is the best series in world cricket and we are proud Moeen Ali is involved and has a huge part to play.

There has been a lot of talk of Mitchell Johnson’s pace and, in reality, we don’t often face many bowlers who can bowl beyond 90mph.

He’s got the pace and, being a left-arm bowler, the ball is coming from a different angle.

If you can get through his first spell then the second and third spells should become easier.

I am not sure whether you have time to react to a 90mph delivery so you need to rely on clues during the bowling action to try to get an idea of what the bowler is trying to do.

There are guys on the county circuit who can bowl deliveries of up to 90mph and, as an opening batsman, it gets your heart racing and mind focused.

It’s a challenge and, having spoken to Mo, he’s enjoying it.