After Graham Napier's record-battering 152 not out for Essex against Sussex in a Twenty20 match, it's easy to forget his struggles at the start of the season, when he struggled to find a place in the championship side and had to try out for the second XI. James Root of the Observer caught up with Napier, who by now should have already caught the eye of the IPL scouts.

'I'm going to make sure that I'm on top of my game because it certainly was a low for me and I thought, "Right, what am I going to do? I need a plan here to get back in the side or to have something to fall back on if cricket doesn't go too well this summer." I had a few ideas, photography is one area that I would like to get into - I even sat down with some of the photographers at the ground to gain a bit of experience.

In the Sunday Times, David Walsh catches up with Darren Gough before his last county season. Gough talks about the dizzying heights of Strictly Come Dancing, the current England team, Twenty20 and his captaincy stint with Yorkshire, gushing with the pride of being a 'people's person.'

Difficulties in their personal lives, off-the-field problems and they have always said that at Yorkshire, there was nobody to talk to and they kept things bottled up. The last person they had here wouldn’t have listened. I listen, I let people go back to their country for a break, I let people stay at home with their family when they’ve been having problems and I let them know I’m there for them, through thick and thin. And I know they’re desperate to do well for me and that’s the only difference I’ve made. But the lads here knew what I was like, they wanted me to come, many of them rang, Anthony McGrath said, ‘If you come back, I stay; if you don’t, I’m leaving’.

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