IT has be a year of mixed emotions at Worcestershire this season.

When I look back on our 2007 campaign I am desperately disappointed that we were relegated in the four-day LV County Championship - but I was over the moon to have clinched the NatWest Pro40 title.

I feel that, for one reason or another, we did not play to our best in the four-day game. But I'm not going to go looking for excuses.

But to win the first trophy in 14 years has to go down as a major achievement for the County.

I was also pleased with the way that we finished the season and the way that youngsters Steven Davies and Moeen Ali have batted during that time has really excited me.

Then there is the consistency of Graeme Hick and Kabir Ali which has been another strong point for us.

But with the cricket now finished, I am now looking to making the squad even stronger than the one we had for the 2007 campaign.

It is a very busy time for me speaking to agents and players and, fingers crossed, the squad next season will be stronger.

I feel that we may have found a real diamond in the signing of Gareth Andrew. He has served a four-year apprenticeship at Somerset and broke into the first team but opportunities for him have been limited.

I feel that he is ready to take his chance and I'm pleased that we have got him.

This can be a frustrating time of year though.

You can spend a lot of time talking to players and their agents and you feel that you are about to sign them and then you miss out. But if it is meant to be - then it will happen.

We do have one more match to play this season and that is a Lord's Taverners match against Glamorgan in Guernsey on Saturday.

But this is more of a social occasion and the players will be able to let their hair down after what has been a long hard season.

I will go off on my holiday in November while we send the players off with strength and conditioning programmes to keep them fit over the winter months.

There are a few players who are going to play grade cricket in Australia, but they too are expected to keep to the programme that is set for them.

But it won't be long before we are back for the pre-season sessions to get ready for what will be another tough campaign.