Darren Gough bowed out of the Test arena this week, but I have my doubts as to whether that means our own James Kirtley will finally get his chance.

Don't get me wrong, no one would be more proud other than James himself and his family were he to play at Trent Bridge next week. Everyone at Hove is keeping their fingers crossed that it happens.

But I just have a feeling that Michael Vaughan will take the opportunity to put his own stamp on the squad, something he was unable to do because of the suddenness of Nasser Hussain's resignation which came just three days before the start of the second Test.

James is the most obvious like-for-like replacement for Goughy, but it wouldn't surprise me if guys like James Ormond or Steve Kirby got an opportunity instead of him.

England, meanwhile, will miss Darren, particularly in the dressing room. He was great company in 1999 when we toured South Africa together and I still remember one incident in particular. Even thinking about it now makes me laugh.

It was the final Test at Centurion - the now infamous Cronje Test - and it had been raining for three days solid. Phil Tufnell had built a nest in the corner of the dressing room and there was a card school going but Duncan Fletcher told our physio Dean Conway to organise a weights session in the gym so the rest of us could burn off a bit of excess energy.

Anyway, we all trooped into the gym and Goughy started flexing his biceps in true bodybuilder style. "Eh Deano," he said. "My nickname at Yorkshire is Rhino. Does tha' know why?" Dean shook his head. "Why is that Goughy?" he asked. "Because I'm as strong as an ox!" Priceless.

I must admit that some of the comments, both in the Press and from our own supporters, in the wake of the draw with Surrey last weekend have disappointed me.

One or two of our members reckon by coming off for bad light on Friday and then delaying our declaration on Saturday was a negative move which lost us the chance of winning the match.

But I'm afraid our chance went when we had Surrey 126-6 in their first innings and then couldn't bowl them out. From that position they rallied to make 355. Being able to make such good recoveries is one of the reasons why they remain the side to beat.

There was no point in us trying to chase the game on Friday when the light got steadily worse. We knew the forecast was good for Saturday and the pitch was still excellent for batting.

Mushtaq Ahmed was also struggling with a sore lower back which was another factor in our decision to bat them out of the game on Saturday.

Mushy had six overs after tea, but he bowled every one without putting any action on his lower back. He was obviously our main hope of bowling them out again, but I don't think he would have been physically capable of bowling the long spells we've seen from him this season.

Anyway, we are just four points behind Surrey and, more importantly, our performance has made them aware that we are not going to be shaken off easily.

We're going to the dogs next Thursday with an evening at the Hove Stadium as part of my benefit year. Tickets, which include admission, dinner with full view of the racing, and services of a tipster, are £22.50 and available by calling my benefit office on 01273 277354. I hope to see you there.