Erratic displays in both forms of game.

Another topsy-turvy week - we can't quite find the consistency that will allow us to string together results in both the competitions taking place at the moment.

We are performing well in the Friends Provident despite, in all honesty, not playing to our full potential. However, we are top of the league, but only a win will do against Surrey (hopefully this will be the case by the time you read these words) in what is effectively a quarter-final.

Meanwhile, in the Championship we have been short of the big first innings runs that frequently put us in strong positions last season and, in the last couple of games, we have had the opposition in trouble only to see their tail wag and add some vital runs.

At Arundel, we had done a lot of good work to reduce Sussex to 233 for 8 from 105 without loss, thanks to Warnie (5-91) and Chris Tremlett (3-114) on what seemed a fairly lifeless wicket but we couldn't finish them off - Mushtaq and Luke Wright hitting 50s to take Sussex to 341.

Mushtaq returned to haunt us with the ball as well, as he took 7 for 72 in our well below par 202 all out. Unfortunately things didn't get much better as Sussex stretched their lead to 500 before declaring and Michael Brown and myself were out before stumps on Day 3.

On a positive front, Michael Lumb and Michael Carberry looked in good touch with 50s and, despite some resistance from Creepy, Nic Pothas and Dimi, we weren't able to hold out and suffered our first Championship defeat of the season, made even worse in that it was to our local rivals.

The guys managed to bounce back brilliantly in the Friends Provident Trophy match on Sunday and pulled off a vital win at Tunbridge Wells against fellow contenders Kent.

There were a few changes in the order but we were again indebted to Nic Pothas and Dimi who helped us to a competitive total. However, according to some of the guys, it was possibly 30 runs under-par. In the end it proved to be just enough with the partisan crowd bringing out the best in our skipper (3-30) and we looked to have the game settled as we had Kent on the rack with a score of 136 for 8.

Once again things didn't prove to be that simple, Matt Walker (who won them the game off the final ball last year) played brilliantly to take Kent to within three runs of victory (off four balls) before Chris Tremlett trapped him in front. It was a fantastic win and very entertaining for the crowd but we do have the knack of taking things to the wire.

The 2nd XI on the other hand had a very convincing victory against Surrey last week at the Brit Oval. The guys battered the opposition bowlers and, with an hour's play still left, declared on 430 for 6 (Benham 123, Ervine 95, Dawson 58, Lamb 53no). Surrey decided to declare with a first innings deficit and Kevin Latouf hit 61 as we set them 345 to win. However, the hosts crumbled to 87 all out, Greg Lamb (4-17) and Liam Dawson proving more than a handful on a turning wicket.

Liam continued his good week as he helped the Academy to the top of the Southern Premier League after their weekend doubleheader.

Saturday's opponents South Wilts were first on Daws's hitlist - seven wickets and 98 not out in the chase. Havant also had no answer the following day as he hit an unbeaten 140 to bring Tony Middleton's youngsters home.

It's great to see Liam in form and getting the rewards as he had been having a bit of a tough time of it at the start of the season. He probably put too much pressure on himself; he's looked in great form whenever I've seen him play but hadn't quite had the results in terms of runs and wickets. I think we also forget how young Liam is and how much time he has on his side - sometimes you just need a bit of luck to go your way and you're back on track.

Hopefully we'll have that bit of luck in the two games coming up so we can go into the Twenty20 period in good spirits. A much-needed win against Durham would see us move up the Championship table and, with a few home games to come after Twenty20, a return to form could see us back where we set out to be at the start of the year.

But first we need to knock over the Brown Caps to earn a home semi-final in the Friends Provident which would be a fantastic boost for everyone at the club.