The increased pessimism about the regional economy has offset more robust consumer confidence in the Southeast over the first six months of the year.

The fiscal environment doesn't get much better. Hopefully, we'll get something in terms of income tax ... I would think there is probably room. That would be the best of all worlds.

This is a great opportunity, we don't want to miss it. The fiscal situation in Canada is the envy of the G-7 ministers and probably well beyond that.

He's one of the nicest people I've met in the game. He's a very loyal person and I wish him all the best. I think he'll do a great job,

It's not been the most enjoyable of Bank Holiday weekends but we now know how much hard work is ahead.

Again it was a story of not enough runs. We played pretty well to get to 100-1 but then did what we tend to do and lost wickets. It might have been closer in UK conditions but we want to be a side that can adapt.

This is just the sort of tour that we need to prepare ourselves for further international progress. We expect to have to work hard in all these games, and it is fantastic for us to be able to play the Barbados team at the end of it all.

It's very important to us that we get some prior experience of the unique cricketing atmosphere in the Caribbean before we go to the World Cup. Although our competitive games in a year's time will all be at the new Warner Park Stadium in St Kitts, we will have some warm-up games in Barbados, and this trip is an ideal way to find out how to play the game in these conditions.

The best we can do is beat Ireland convincingly in Aberdeen and hope that the weather also affects Ireland's match against Holland.

It's not fair to ask someone to make that jump, which is why we need to bridge the gap,