THE SEASON seems to be sliding away rather fast. We are quickly running out of games and opportunities to rectify our precarious position in the Championship whilst just one chance is left in the National League to lift ourselves out of the bottom four.But we have not given up. As professionals we have a duty to give everything in all the games we play even if some of the matches seem to be virtually an irrelevance. Two divisions have certainly lent greater importance to more games. Even those in the bottom half of the second division of the National League still have something to play for even if it's to avoid facing a first class county in the third round of the C&G Trophy next year!

In this context, we have played our last two one-dayers against Middlesex at the Rose Bowl last Sunday and Sussex at Hove on Tuesday night with wildly different performances. The former game started disastrously when we were reduced to 6 for 3 after four overs, but we managed to recover to record a 27-run win.

Conversely, we were out of the blocks quickly on Tuesday night, posting 50 for 1 in the ninth over before being demolished to lose by eight wickets.

Sunday's game was a particular triumph for me in that I recorded my first one-day century in my 110th match. In many ways, this sounds like rather a poor record though, in my defence, one doesn't get too many opportunities to bat for a long period at number five in one-day cricket. It's only if very early wickets fall that the chance for a long innings arrives, and last Sunday was one of them.

We managed to build a decent score on that occasion through putting together three strong partnerships. John Francis played a crucial role at the start with an excellent 35 under pressure, Shaun Udal made the most of his promotion to number 6 with a brisk 50, and Dimi Mascarenhas did what he does best in smiting the ball to all parts at the death.

Setting 240 for Middlesex to win was pleasing since such totals are rarely successfully chased at the Rose Bowl; and so it proved again, though not without a scare or two.

Ed Joyce, an Irish left-hander who bats in the middle-order for Middlesex, looks to be a fine player. He has plenty of time but hits the ball crisply and possesses an excellent temperament definitely one for the fantasy league team next year!

THE SUSSEX day/nighter could not have been more different as the batting put up an abject performance after a decent start.

Our total of 126 was at least 70 below par given a good wicket and the bowlers had nothing to play with, although Dimi again bowled with menace in picking up three wickets.

We have been trying to give young players opportunities in the National League and all these experiences will be very good for them, but it's clear that we have some way to go to be a consistently good one-day side.

In an ideal world we would not want to have so many players with so little experience all playing at the same time young players often come on best with a strong support structure around them but injuries have not been kind to us of late, and we have had little alternative.

The young guys certainly have the ability to make it and have all proved their worth at second team level.

Several of the side from the last two games will play on Monday in the 2nd XI) Trophy final at the Rose Bowl against Kent.

It is quite an achievement to reach this stage for the second time in three years and it a tribute to the talent and work ethic of the coach, Tony Middleton, and his charges. Entrance is free for everyone and should provide an exciting day out. All support is most welcome.

Flavia Bateson's sailing round-up Iain strikes gold in California WINCHESTER'S Iain Percy added to his Olympic Finn class gold medal by winning the Star class world championships in Marina del Rey, California, last week, along with Steve Mitchell.

In so doing they made a name for themselves in sailing history as the first Brits ever to win this prestigious event. They sailed into the California Yacht Club dock victorious, with a Union Jack flying from their mast although Iain did not realise they had it on board:

"Steve put that in the cool box this morning and didn't tell me. I would have thought it was bad luck!" he said later.

But the way they sailed, luck didn't enter into the equation. Neither Iain (26) nor Steve (32, from London and a past Etchells world champion) had sailed a Star until 10 months ago. Since then they've trained hard both in Europe and the USA, gradually moving up the world rankings to 17.

With finishes of 4-1-3-2 in the 103 boat fleet, Iain and Steve entered the final race with a four-point lead. Boosted by breezes as strong as 14 knots, they finished 41 seconds ahead of the 1998 winner from Australia.

RYA Olympic manager Stephen Park was delighted. "With the calibre of the sailors at the Star worlds and the depth of experience that those sailors have in the class, it was always going to be a tough regatta.

"Iain and Steve have excelled themselves. Nobody could have expected that they'd master the Star in such a relatively short amount of time."

The pair now go to Spain for further training before the Star European Championships in Italy.