What a week. End of day three in our first CricInfo Championship match and I have time to reflect on my first week in London.

It was quite a dramatic start when I was denied entry into the country after a misunderstanding with my work permit. It was very unnerving, especially with it being Good Friday and nobody at work in the Middlesex office. Thankfully my partner Kelly was able to clear immigration and then locate Angus Fraser, the Middlesex captain to help sort out the issue.

After a week off back in New Zealand it's straight into it with a warm up game in Oxford.

I was very keen to play this game for a number of reasons. The first being the adjustments I need to make to bat on early season wickets which will be considerably slower than the wickets back home. The second reason is a chance to meet my team mates for the next six months.

There have been a few changes within the club over the winter with a couple of the more experienced players moving on leaving a relatively young squad lead by Fraser, Phil Tufnell and coach John Emburey.

Part of the appeal of playing for Middlesex is that I may be able to offer some leadership as the season progresses as the squad we have is very similar to the New Zealand side.

Sometimes players need to feel responsible before they start achieving what they are capable of. I hope this will be the case for a number of our players this summer.

Speaking of summer! I look forward to it because at the moment it's freezing. We have been lucky enough to get a bit of cricket in, but when we have the temperature has been low single figures. Oxford in particular was bitter, especially when it started snowing and driving players from the field.

My first week in London has been great. The Middlesex Club and, in particular, the players have made me very welcome. It's always going to be a great experience playing a majority of your cricket at Lord's but it's with your team mates that the good times are had. I feel if we can start well it will inject the confidence that is needed to play positive cricket.

On a different note it was with much sadness that I read the news of Bert Sutcliffe passing away last week.

To me Bert epitomized everything grand about representing your country in cricket. He was immensely proud of his country and even prouder of his black cap, which he wore during his career playing for New Zealand.

He has had an impact on many players past and present. My fondest memory of Bert was when we had to climb the gates of Lancaster Park after we had been locked in. Bert had been talking cricket with me after watching a day of domestic cricket. I was only 12.

His passion for the game was contagious and I celebrate his life by thanking him for demonstrating to me how to grace a cricket field.

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