Take it from me, the game of cricket is alive and kicking.

If you were fortunate enough to watch both the NatWest series final between England and India and our C&G quarter final against Surrey, then you were treated to exhibitions of extreme batting and dynamic fielding.

Shame though for the poor old bowlers who I have to say were exposed to a real mauling in both games.

Both games provided high levels of excitement and lots of pressure on both sides, particularly the captains.

So it was no surprise to me to see both Nasser Hussain and Sourav Ganguly show plenty of emotion in separate incidents.

Now sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit you are wrong.

Nasser played a magnificent innings and I certainly now believe that his place in the side is on merit and not through the captaincy. I have questioned before not only his role in the side but also his place.

Not so now. His aggressive approach on some terrific pitches is exactly what England need and if his form continues then he is certain to enjoy the pitches both in Australia and for the World Cup in South Africa.

For some time now people have questioned his batting and suggested that his value to the side is only through leadership and that better players have been omitted.

Hence the explosive show of emotion, the three fingers thrust to indicate his shirt number and finally pointing with vigour to his name on the back of his shirt.

I know exactly how it feels to succeed when it seems you are being written off by all and sundry.

Whether or not it is the ideal behaviour for an England captain will always be debated but I categorically assure you it is totally understandable.

Congratulations must go to him and the rest of the England team, who performed admirably and were beaten in a thrilling game by some masterful batting by the Indians.

Ganguly's own show of emotion was something completely different.

Of course, the release of emotion when the winning runs are hit is massive and the bigger the game the bigger the release.

But just hang on a minute, cast your mind back to the winter when Freddy Flintoff bowled the final wicket to win England the one-day series.

Off came Freddy's shirt in a football-style celebration, followed by lots of 'over the top' celebrations.

At the time it was cast away as inexperience and exuberance but Ganguly's own response of removing his shirt and shouting what can only respectfully be described as expletives after Flintoff was hit for the winning runs, suggests that here was something more than a captain enjoying the moment his team snatched victory.

What we do know is there is previous between the two lads. It was well publicised at the time that Ganguly was not liked in the Lancashire dressing room and that maybe, just maybe, this could have explained Flintoff's behaviour in India.

Now there are limits to what is acceptable and what is not and if Ganguly's response was aimed at specifically Flintoff, then I'm sorry that is not the behaviour befitting any professional sportsman, let alone the leader of the team.

Shame, because he is a fine player and smashing lad and I'm certain he doesn't need to express himself in this way. The best reply is always achieved on the pitch with the bat in your hand.

I will finish this week by echoing my comments after our defeat by Surrey in the quarter final. Never have I been more proud of a Sussex team. The way in which we responded to the mammoth total set by Surrey was brilliant.

Of course we didn't win and we would have swapped the result gladly for a low scoring game, but I believe that we made many friends with the way we played and if we continue to play with the same positive aggression, then our season will flourish.