OUR new signing Francois Du Plessis has got a little bit of Kevin Pietersen about him in terms of flair at the crease.

It was a truly special innings that he played, dragging us out of trouble to win the Friends Provident Trophy game against Yorkshire on Sunday.

Having seen him a couple of times before Sunday's game, I knew that he was a great fielder and a very handy bowler, but I didn't know too much about his batting.

Well he proved he was a different class during his knock of 77 on Sunday.

The major thing that impressed me was the maturity of his innings for a 23-year-old. I just wonder what he would do with a good bat. I won't mention his manufacturer, but the pick up is absolutely awful - it's the worst I have ever held.

But if he carries on performing like that, then he is a contracted player and we will not be able to keep him out of the four-day side.

The one thing I want to know is where he stands internationally with him being a Kolpak.

He really is that good - it can't be that long before he starts to get mentioned regularly for honours.

Despite the fact that we are in a very healthy position in terms of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy, we are still not playing very well.

The top order, collectively, aren't in the best of nick - Paul Horton is the only one of us who is scoring runs.

I need a hundred to kick-on, while Stuart Law is in a similar situation. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.