So with the unusual situation of more outdoor training sessions in late March than during the whole of April, just one warm-up match against a strong Wycombe 1st XI and the rescheduling of rescheduled cup matches, the 2012 season has finally got under way.

The introduction of Jason Harrison as Head Coach has certainly seen a much improved structure to training & pre-match warm-ups for the 1st XI in particular and thanks to the introduction of team fines after each match there is a very positive team spirit within the squad. Unfortunately this has not yet been transferred into results thus far where in the opening weekend, we were the only game not to play as we were due to host neighbours Amersham, whilst our National Cup game against Oxford has to be resolved by a bowl out as the ground still hadn't repaired.

This was followed by defeats at Reading in the league & Hadleigh & Thundersley in the Conference Cup the following week despite back-to-back 50's from Luc Walker, whilst last weekend on a flat Henley wicket, 250 was very nearly an undefendable total, however we held on for a draw on the back of good team batting effort thanks to 50's from Luke Shepherd & Jeremy Suter.

The 2nd XI began their season with a new captain in Andy Higgins and have won all 3 matches thus far, with the highlights being Luke Shepherd's 103 at Amersham, Hash Hussain's 100 at home to Burnham and Mark Sullivan hitting a 6 off the final ball of the match at home to Windsor. By all accounts the 2nd XI must seriously be in contention for promotion back to Division 3.

The 3rd XI recorded their first victory this week thanks to 70 from Brian Richardson at North Maidenhead and probably should have chased down Wooburn Narks the week before if stand-in skipper Hugh Suter had received some more support. It's not unrealistic for promotion to also be a consideration for the 3rd XI looking at the current strength of the side.

Finally the 4th XI benefitted from a scratched game against Windsor, receiving 20 points on the 19th, and then thrashed Princes Risborough by 168 runs this week to find themselves in second and again promotion could be on the cards!

All in all a promising start to the season and plenty to be excited about for the rest of the summer with the aim very much to get the 2nd, 3rd & 4th XI's promoted and for the 1st XI to continue rebuilding what is a young and talented side. Availability has been brilliant so far which is making team selection easier in terms of numbers but much harder as more difficult decisions are required as guys challenge for spaces in all teams.