Although it was a big disappointment to lose the first game in Australia, it was great for me to be able to start the England Lions tour with 86 against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

I came to the wicket at a tough time with us batting first and it took a few balls to get going. But it was good to get some time at the crease to give myself a chance to score heavily with five to ten overs left.

It is something I have built my career on in one-day cricket, getting myself in during the first 20 or 30 overs of an innings, knowing that there are powerplays to come.

Especially with the new regulations, which allow only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle outside the powerplays, it means you can go a lot harder and score more runs towards the end of an innings.

Having done that kind of thing for Yorkshire definitely helped me the other day.

Our total of 225-8 didn’t prove good enough though as our hosts knocked them off with eight wickets to spare.

Victoria provided us with a very tough start to the tour because they had quite a few current and ex-internationals in their side with them due to restart their domestic one-day competition this weekend.

But we have come over here to play some tough cricket, which is just what we got.

When you look at the squad Australia A have named, it is not going to get any easier. That is why a tough first match will be good for us in the long run, helping us to get up to speed.

Nine of their 12-man squad have already played for Australia, with Aaron Finch skippering the side, Tim Paine as vice-captain and Adam Voges among those featuring.

This week coming sees another couple of matches against Victoria – the second one at the MCG on Wednesday.

The MCG is one of the best cricket stadiums in the world, so everyone is looking forward to it.

When you watch the Boxing Day Test on TV and see the crowds there, it does make you want to play there one day. I know it isn’t a Test match, but it will still be a special day for us all.