After the long winter it was good to see so many familiar faces at Clapham on Saturday.

We also welcome those new faces who joined us and hope to see them all again.

The Intra-Club match was a good opportunity to get out and test our skills in match conditions and prepare for the season.

It was also a good example of why weather forecasts aren’t always to be believed. Over the winter many of the squad have taken time to improve their techniques either by sessions at The Oval or by throwdowns at the Latchmere.

However, the look and feel of playing outdoors with slopes, wind and fielders to contend with is a different prospect and Saturday was good experience with the start of the season fast approaching.

There were some solid performances with the bat from Leon and Adam then Chris, Sham, Jack and Jamie while Matt Small, Shailesh and Dave all looked dangerous with the ball.

As a club I think we’re improving and I hope that the campaign will both successful and enjoyable. We’ve worked hard over the off season and I hope that all the training will pay off over the coming months.

From a personal perspective it was good to get some more experience as captain and I enjoyed getting the season started with a win.

Giles will be a hard act to follow and hope to see him don his whites as often as possible this season despite all his responsibilities.

The interclub also saw a new innovation for the season. At the end of every match there will be awards for hero and clown of the match.

The inaugural winners were Jamie Keating for his overhead smash and Tom Parnellfor blocking an exocet with his shin.