'Lincolnshire didn't perform as well as they would have liked', continued Graham but we carried 147 and 152.

'Our preparation was world class - I knew it had to be.

'The caddies were really important - Stewart, Jane, Andy Jones, Ben Senior, Gareth Jenkins plus all the support from the Officials and supporters.

'Four players played really well. I had to get our position at lunch out to Matt (Cryer) as quickly as I could - to tell him how well we were doing. He was superb.

'Paul Randle is just brilliant. In the last two years he has leanrt so much and his golf game has gone up a couple of notches. He is better than County Golf but his age may count against him. Paul put the numbers on the board at just the right time - the timing was fantastic.

'For Andy (Sullivan) and Russell (Heritage), the day had arrived and neither were more than 80% on their games.

'Russell had the problem of the flyer on the 11th in his first round. That shook him up. I can only thank Stewart Harris for all his help in getting Russell round, especially in the afternoon when Russell was four over after five. It was Russell who had to hit the shots though and he gave 105%, as did Andy even with his problems from the tee. They just fought and fought for the team.

'I am very impressed with Rory Kirwan. To go out as last man in a tournament such as this was fantastic. His first tee shot was 50 yards left, with a three wood, into the hay. To shoot 143 after that was superb. He is a great striker and he is sneaky long.

'As for Ben Stafford, it was a perfect course for him and he did exactly as I wanted. I knew i could rely on him.'

So what of Princes, at the end of September, and the Warwickshire chances?

I am going down to Princes this week to sort out the hotel. There will be an aggressive gym routine and the putting element has to be worked on - the fitness is a must because three days of that type of competition is very very demanding.

'It will not be the same side in September. I will have a squad of 10-15 players to look at. I have the tools and I have got the players so we shall see, won't we?'