THE only real positive we can take from our Twenty20 defeat at Durham on Friday is that we were so close to winning despite playing so poorly.

We were poor in the first six overs and poor in the last six of their innings, although we dragged it back a little in the middle. Then, with our batting, we were poor in the first six overs as well.

We keep losing wickets in the first six and that doesn't bode well for a run chase of 183. We also didn't go hard enough in the middle period with our batting.

We have tried to be positive in the way we play and train but I think we left ourselves with too much to do at the end. We only lost by six runs but we could have scored a bit quicker.

I'm particularly disappointed with my own form in the first three games, although I know Twenty20 is a format that occasionally you will go a few games not getting many.

I've probably been overthinking things a bit. It's only two innings but it's two where I haven't contributed. Fortunately it's only the start of the competition and I can rectify that.

Ideally, we'd have wanted three wins – but we'd have taken two from three.

Durham are obviously a good team but they're not a great one and I reckon we should be blowing teams like that away with what's in our squad.

Our next game is the Roses clash against Lancashire at Headingley this coming Friday and I think it comes around at the right time.

Preparation-wise as well, we've gone from four-day to T20, yet this week we have a full week to concentrate on our skills in this format. I think a few of the lads maybe feel a bit undercooked in their preparation.

The schedule of red ball into white ball hasn't helped and I, personally, think it would produce better T20 cricket if it were in a block. With a week of practice, we expect to be firing for that game.

Lancashire are not as strong as they have been but are still dangerous.

Particularly up front, I think they rely heavily on Tom Smith. Prior to that, they had Stephen Moore. Those two at the top a couple of years ago were extremely strong but they don't have that now.

It seems England's appointment of Trevor Bayliss suits all parties, to a degree. From hearing things about him on TV, he's got a long list of experiences from all over the world and I think he'll do a good job.

It's also great for Yorkshire that Jason (Gillespie) is staying.

The way he'd been speaking about the job to us, it was clear he is settled at Yorkshire and enjoys his role. He spoke in the media about taking a lot of persuading to leave.

I think speculation probably got hyped up a bit more than what his actual interest was.

He's still relatively new to coaching. I don't know for sure but I bet he'd say the same thing if you asked him – maybe he wants a year or two more under his belt before he takes another job.

He's also got a Big Bash opportunity, which I know he's relishing.

There's no doubt he will do an international job at some point – but it's a good thing for Yorkshire that it's not now.

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