The difference between Twenty20 and 40 over games is enormous. The temptation is to think that the 40 over game is just an extended slog.

However, this could not be further from the truth. The Twenty20 game at our level is all about attacking the bowling and aiming for a score over 120 when batting first, which basically equates to a run a ball. You must always factor in at our level that there are no fielding restrictions as in the pro game, so restricting runs in theory becomes easier.

In the Twenty20 format a batting team will never really disgrace themselves as it is very rare for a side to be all out considerably short of their allotted 20 overs.

The 40 over match encourages an entirely different approach and it is vital that we bat for the full 40 overs. This sounds a lot easier than it is in practice, and teams can often make the fatal error of being bowled out well before their overs are up.

Respectable totals in the extended format of the game are heavily dependent on the prevailing conditions. But it is paramount to give us a chance that we see out the full allocation. Batting becomes focused on patience with good balls defended and only bad balls hit towards the boundary. Not giving away your wicket is crucial to the team succeeding.

Last season the toss for every game was engineered so that we batted second to ensure a game for our opponents. We have now moved on from that, and we have improved enough to take up the challenge of setting a total.