The Champions Trophy is my first experience of an ICC world tournament and I can promise you it has felt very different, and very special from the moment the squad gathered.

In a bilateral series against another country there is inevitably a sense of familiarity that comes after three or four games. You only need to prepare once for the bowlers you will be facing and the batsmen you will be bowling to. Here we face three very different teams in the group stage, although – to use an old cliché - we really are taking it one game at a time!

Even the veterans of seven or eight of these ICC tournaments say that this time it feels more like a ‘sprint’ than ever. We could, in theory, be out of the tournament after three days if we lose our first two games. Some teams won’t even have played a match by then! It will feel like a 100 metre sprinter being disqualified for making a false start.

But that sort of tension is good, it keeps you on your toes and mentally sharp. We cannot afford a false start and everybody knows that. It would be going too far to say we are relaxed, but we are all confident in our own ability and in the skills of all team mates in the squad. Nobody has any doubts.

Although I started as a ‘reserve’ in the squad I’m looking forward to making an impact. I really enjoyed my run in the ODI side last season against Australia and I was fortunate to make a couple of match-winning contributions, so I know I can do it. I love the big stage as much as anybody and, with luck, I’ll be able to take the chance offered to me by Herschelle’s injury.

It’s never a happy time watching a team mate lose his place tp injury, especially when they are as keen and determined as Herschelle is, but there isn’t a single player in the squad who hasn’t suffered that fate or taken advantage of it, so we all accept it as part of the game.

Sri Lanka pose a unique threat in world cricket because of the extreme unorthodoxy of the ‘three Ms’- Malinga, Murali and Mendis. Batsmen have virtually no chance against all three of them on first sighting, but the element of surprise has gradually been worn away now and we all have experience of facing them. It doesn’t necessarily get any easier, but at least we now know what to expect. Well, most of the time…!

There is huge excitement in the Proteas squad but definitely no nervous tension, not of the negative variety anyway. If people say we are the favourites then that must mean we are quite good. And we’d rather people thought we were quite good than quite bad!