I'M really pleased to see Chris Read sign a three-year contract extension at Notts – because he is the man to lead the club forward.

Since joining the Trent Bridge staff from Gloucestershire, Ready has been a superb servant and great player.

He is a big-game player who turns it on when his team most needs it, and as skipper, he leads by example.

With Notts now looking to bring through younger players, he is the ideal captain to look up to and learn from.

And, I have to say, he is one of the nicest guys I have met in the game. He had his benefit last year and I can think of a no more deserving recipient.

Ready has been a very positive influence on my career. He has a likeable personality and has learned a heck of a lot from the likes of Stephen Fleming and Mark Ealham.

His captaincy skills have really improved. He is a fairly relaxed character but, at the same time, when he gets put there on the field, he is very determined.

As one of the senior players now, I will be doing my best to help those lads coming into the team.

It would be great to see Notts lads coming into the side from the academy, like Luke Fletcher, and making first team places their own.

I will be able to help from a bowling point of view, just as others such as Darren Gough and Mark Ealham, helped me when I was younger.

You are not going to bowl well in every spell and sometimes as a young lad you don't always appreciate that.

I will always be available if anyone wants to come for me for advice, but captaincy is something that does not really interest me, even in the future.

My field placings are most likely to be to put a fielder where the batsman has just hit it!

But seriously, I would prefer to stick to the bowling and let others lead the team.

Ready is doing a fantastic job and hopefully that will continue for several years to come.