Cricket: SCHEDULE MADNESS; Each week fans' favourite ROB PATERNOSTRO gives Mercury Sport the exclusive news and view from inside the Bullets camp...

WHAT is the schedulemaker thinking? Whoever the schedule-maker is.

I would have to question what they were thinking or drinking when they decided to give us five games in eight days.

Last night's game in London is the start of a gruelling week that will determine whether or not we will be fighting for a play-off spot. What makes it even more confusing is the fact that after we finish that stretch we have two weeks off. Does that make any sense?

No, but regardless of whether it makes sense or not, we have to come out of this with at least three wins.

If the season ended today, Milton Keynes would have the eighth and final play-off spot. They currently have nine wins, but have won the season series against us so we would have to win one more game than them to get that eighth spot. So what this means is that if we want to make the play-offs, then we have to be as close as we can get to being perfect for the rest of the year.

With 13 games to go, we would have to win about 11. Yeah I know, the obvious question would be 'how can you even think about winning that percentage when we have only won one game all season?'.

Well, as players, the only thing we can do is keep on playing and taking it one game at a time.

I understand that this is an old, tired cliche, but it is true. When you are playing a basketball game you never think about the task that is ahead of you.

You are just thinking about how you are going to stop the man you are guarding, or how you're going to make sure that he cannot stop you.

So I can assure everyone that we will be continuing to play as hard as we can.

No matter how the odds are stacked against us, we know we are professionals and it is our job. Tonight's match-up versus the Thames Valley Tigers tips off at 7.30 at the Birmingham Sports Centre.