Glamorgan Club Captain Mark Wallace will lead the welsh county in the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi final at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday. As Glamorgan prepare to take on Hampshire, Wally looks ahead to the match and the end of the season.
"This season has definitely had its ups and downs for Glamorgan, but I definitely feel there are lots of positive things to come out of it. Now it's just a matter of keeping our eyes on the prize for the Yorkshire Bank40, giving it everything we've got and finishing the season as strong as possible.
"The One-Day 40 over matches were a highlight of the season for me - we kicked the group stage off so well in the games against Yorkshire and Middlesex. I always love playing cricket, but wins like that make it extra special! It's just such a great format to play as the pace of the action makes it all more exciting, for the team as well as the crowd.
We suffered defeats from some very worthy opponents in the LV County Championships, which you just have to treat as a learning curve and then try to forget about. It's great that we've got a chance to prove ourselves at the YB40, so hopefully we can end the season on a high note and show that we've learned from those earlier mistakes.
I'm really excited that we got through to the semi-finals and another step closer to Lord's. It's been a long time since Glamorgan made it this far in this format of the game and all the boys are absolutely buzzing, but we're still not where we want to be yet - the final is always the goal.
2013 has been a bit of a mixed bag for us so far. Yes, there were some disappointments, but there were also some real show-stopping performances which made me incredibly proud to be a part of the team.
I feel like we've made great strides this year, both as a team and as individuals - at times like the match against Leicestershire Foxes you can really see how skilled players, like Chris Cooke and Murray Goodwin, working together, makes Glamorgan great.
It's excellent news that Jim Allenby has committed to staying with Glamorgan for four more years - it shows the positive direction the club is going in. Jim knows how hard we all work on the field and he wants to be part of our future success.
I think Jim will be the first of many star players to sign a long-term contract and help us grow.
Hugh Morris, the new CEO, is really passionate about increasing the club's talent pool with home-grown talent and this season, I've really enjoyed getting involved with youth cricket and helping to develop the junior ranks has been a brilliant experience; there are some cracking Welsh players on the horizon who I hope will play for Glamorgan in the future.
It's great to have an international game coming up at our stadium as well to help inspire us all to higher levels. The England lads have told me how much they enjoy playing here because the atmosphere at SWALEC is always so electric, especially when the crowd start singing!
The Ashes have been interesting to watch this summer. England have been dominating it but I think Australia will get more competitive - they were showing some real fight in the last couple of Test matches, so England will need to stay on top form or there's a good chance Australia might upset them.
I can see the 14th September being a very tense game, but hopefully the SWALEC Stadium buzz will give England that extra edge to carry on their winning streak.
Tickets are available for the YB40 Semi Final at Ageas Bowl on the day of the game. Tickets are also available for the England v Australia One-Day International in Cardiff on Saturday 14th September.
