Who writes Billy Taylor's scripts? That is what I want to know.

It has been a great week for 'Beefy' as we now call him, for his Bothamesque exploits with the ball and for what he promises to do with the bat if only we would lose enough wickets.

There cannot be too many cricketers in the world with more self-confidence than Billy. If ever the clich 'you have to believe in your own ability to succeed' applied to anyone, then it is our Mr Taylor.

As if five wickets and the gold award at Lord's was not enough, he then produced even greater heroics against Surrey, performing a hat-trick (including, for the record, the worst hat-trick ball ever bowled in the history of the game!) and only missing out on another gold award because Mark Davis had an even better day with bat and ball.

Here is a cricketer who has had to work extremely hard to break into the first team but is now a regular and vital player in our one-day side.

Not blessed with obvious natural athleticism or huge physical stature, he nevertheless makes the most of what he has got and combines a good strong bowling action with aggression and variation.

His mental approach to the game is second to none. He often gets a ribbing in the dressing room for his confident prophesizing - "if I was batting now, I'd smash him out of the ground"! But English cricket is full of modest, self-depreciating players who you always feel could make more runs if they just believed in themselves a bit more.

The Hicks, Crawleys and Ramprakashs of this world could have scored more runs for England, you feel, if they had the natural confidence and unreservedness that seems to be inbred in the Australians and Billy Taylor.

Whilst we are on the subject, it is also worth noting that he has the most histrionic mannerisms and appeals of any bowler on the staff.

This also goes hand in hand with his natural self-belief. Think of other bowlers in England with the same approach to their cricket, Dominic Cork and Darren Gough for instance. They have the same exuberance and style about them when they take a wicket.

We laugh when we see the stumps cart wheeling and Billy standing in the middle of the pitch, arms aloft, bent backwards at the waist as if in a yoga class, or pointing with both thumbs to the name on the back of his Sunday League shirt.

We laugh, but deep down we wish we could have that little bit of the extrovert in built in us.

Enough on Crusty Taylor, before it goes to his head! Some of us are having the good fortune of a few days off whilst we bask in the glory of the great all-round team performance that saw us through to the quarter-finals of the Benson and Hedges Cup.

There were obvious heroes such as the aforementioned crusty one. But everybody contributed in some vital way throughout the week. Whether it was Tim Ambrose's tidy keeping and assured batting at the top of the order, or Will House and Mark Davis's lusty blows to win the game against Surrey, or James Kirtley's consistent ability to get wickets when they were most needed.

I could go on and mention everyone in the team. It is very encouraging and, in a sense is what Sussex cricket is now all about. It is also why a team that contains only three people who have played international cricket can beat a team that can boast seven or eight international players. It bodes well for the rest of the season.

Thursday May 8