I HAVE been delighted with my own form with the bat this summer, which has come on the back of a poor one last year.

In hindsight, last summer has been brilliant for my game. That bit of experience I've had from last year coming into this has given me those nuggets of information and details about myself.

It helped that when I had a difficult patch, Kane Williamson has been the around the club and he's been really good to talk to about cricket and batting.

I don't think there's any better to talk to about cricket. He's in the top three in the world and the temperament he has, I think he's great for any young batter to be around.

Kane influences players and individuals in different ways and I try and speak to him a little bit more than perhaps he'd like!

He just sees cricket really clearly and he's very selfless, which is a great trait. He's someone I always look to for advice. I keep in contact with him even now to keep myself in check.

No matter who it is, he's open to giving the time up. A month or six weeks ago, we had half an hour on the phone in and amongst his Zimbabwe Test series. He's that type of bloke.

I hope that we can keep getting him back at Yorkshire and, selfishly, I can keep tapping into the information that he's got.

When you question yourself as a young player, which I still am at 23, often you don't back your first option or your gut instinct. But I feel like I'm getting into a position where I really know my game. Every cloud has a silver lining!

Negatives can surround an underwhelming season but if I have a poor run of games at some point over the next few years, I'm hoping that my experience will help me to bounce back much quicker.

I didn't ever waver from what I believe and the proof is in the runs I've got recently.

It would have been nice to have scored two hundreds in last week's win over Durham and I believe I would have been the first ever to achieve that in a first-class match at Headingley.

I didn't know that at the time when I was batting and it's not something that I'm worried about now. It was another good contribution to the team, which is what I'm bothered about.

We were superb as a team against Durham. We know it's got to be a good win to beat a tough Durham side and it bodes well heading into the last two games of the season, which continues against Somerset this week.

The way we've played our cricket this year has often been a case of 'nearly'. We've had teams on the rack and haven't been able to force the win. Durham away and Hampshire at home first game of the season are two that spring to mind.

So to put a rounded performance together when it really mattered is something we're really excited about. We're delighted with how we played. From that first day getting 340-5, we dominated the whole game.

To be fair to Middlesex, they showed some character to beat Notts and retain top place in the division. They are playing decent cricket, which is something we've not had to combat over the last two years. We've almost had it won by now.

It's a different circumstance, to go into the last couple of weeks not as comfortable as we have been in the last few years. But we know if we do the right things, we'll be there or thereabouts heading into that last game at Lord's.

Somerset are still just about in with a chance of winning the league as well. Their win over Warwickshire at Taunton was a funny game to see the scorecard from and we wondered whether the old pitch inspector might have come knocking with 28 wickets falling in two days.

But fair play to them as well, they've kept plodding along. Hopefully we can play well against them this week and get the win. Then it becomes a two-horse race.

* Alex and sponsors Pennine Business Partners are aiming to Hit Cancer for Six in 2016. They are donating £10 to the Laura Crane Youth Cancer Trust every time Alex hits a six or takes a catch and are asking cricket lovers everywhere to support this great cause, which provides special care and support to young people fighting cancer. Visit Pennine Business Partners' page on Just Giving at https://www.justgiving.com/Pennine-Business-Partners.