IT S funny how things can change in a couple of weeks. Before the wins over Derbyshire and Essex in the County Championship it was all doom and gloom. Now, we are third in the table and have the momentum. It s a pity in way that we ve got a three-week br

IT'S funny how things can change in a couple of weeks. Before the wins over Derbyshire and Essex in the County Championship it was all doom and gloom.

Now, we are third in the table and have the momentum. It's a pity in way that we've got a three-week break for the Twenty20 Cup, but hopefully we can take that momentum into the Twenty20.

Tim Murtagh was one of the stars of our innings win over Essex, while Owais Shah scored a big century and several of our batsmen chipped in, including Eoin Morgan with 96.

Promotion back to division one is our No.1 target and there is no reason why we can't still achieve that aim. We've got a team to do it but unfortunately injuries have already hit us hard - Alan Richardson and myself have hardly played all season. I was watching again from the sidelines as the boys took care of Essex.

Apart from the frustration of not being involved, I've missed taking wickets. The Twenty20 matches may have come too quickly for me - and my target now is to be up and running for the resumption of the County Championship.

I can understand the frustration of some of our members at the lack of success recently. The players take responsibility for the results on the field but I can reassure them that we as players feel that frustration as well and are trying our best to turn it around.

And I believe we have. A couple of wins can perhaps paper over a few cracks but consistency is what we are after. As I said, ideally we would like to carry on with the County Championship but that's the way the fixtures fall and we can look forward to a much better second half of the season.

However, the Twenty20 Cup is an exciting competition and I feel that form of the game is the way forward. It is certainly a big topic following the success of the Indian Premier League and big money with the two finalists going though to the inaugural Twenty20 Cup Champions League in the autumn and a chance of winning the £2.5million prize money.

I also believe Twenty20 will eventually take over from the one-day competitions. It is what television wants and the kids want to watch it. It has been called turbo-charged cricket - all done and dusted in three hours.

Kids are not keen on watching an average of 50 overs in the one-dayers. We want to encourage kids to watch and play the game. The Twenty20 Cup is a competition Middlesex can win - this season's competition is one of the most open.

The boys will be keen to carry over the momentum from the County Championship and the games come thick and fast this week. We started against Hampshire on Wednesday followed by back-to-back games against Essex before entertaining Surrey at Lord's on Monday. We love Essex at the moment - we seem to be joined at the hip. We've played them three times already this season. They are always a dangerous side, but the boys will be confident of success.

The Surrey clash is always one that is eagerly awaited and eagerly contested. Lord's will be packed and there will be a great atmosphere - our aim is to 'turn Lord's pink' in support of our Breakthrough Breast Cancer campaign.

Chris Silverwood was

talking to Patrick Mooney