You are allowed to enjoy the occasion, and to admit that it is fantastic to be involved in an ICC World ‘event’. Sure, something might go wrong and we could be eliminated before the final, or even semi-finals, but that does not mean that we have not enjoyed the experience.

Every team, and every player, starts a tournament with the objective of winning. That’s why we are here. Even players from the smaller countries had their dreams. The players from Ireland still do!

I have always enjoyed playing in England. I had some success playing for Haywood in the Lancashire League a few years ago and my memories are all good. But not the memory of the last time we played England at Trent Bridge, of course!

In the ODI last year we were bowled out for 80-odd and lost by ten wickets before they could even turn the floodlights on. It was horrible. But Thursday’s game is not about ‘revenge’ or anything like that. It is simply about winning and keeping our campaign on track.

Every team in the Super Eight stage has at least one player capable of winning a T20 game, and if they have ‘their’ day then you can’t often do anything about it. You can try, of course, but sometimes it’s batsman’s day. As a team you simply need to have the belief that one of your batsmen can do what they are doing.

We face the prospect of Kevin Pietersen on Thursday, as well as Ravi Bopara and a few others, and after that will be Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and any number of Indian match-winners. The truth is, they are all capable of winning a match by themselves and you simply have to accept that. They are world class players – they are allowed to perform!

But we have match-winners too, and we believe that our guys can produce something as good, hopefully better, than their’s. Of course there is an element of luck in this format of the game but the difference between the top few teams, hopefully, is the number of big performers you have.

If we lose Graeme, Jacques and Herschelle for nothing, then we have three more batsmen capable of winning a game. We also have three or four bowlers capable of changing a match. It was especially pleasing to defend 128 against New Zealand – the batsmen had done their bit, now it was time for the bowlers to win a game, and we did.

Dale is the leader of the attack and Parney is doing beautifully, but me and Roelof have formed a happy team in the spin department and we know that we can make an impact.

The work ethic has been as high as ever and there is no doubt about the level of focus and determination, but we are having a good time, too. I’m not a big one for resting too long in my hotel room so I’ve been out and about exploring London. You have to be careful at supper time, though. A ‘quiet’ little meal can cost you £50 if you’re not careful!