Our regular blogger and recreational umpire Alan Pearce posts his latest entry ahead of the new season.
This time last year, snow lay thick on the ground and we had all endured a torrid winter. This time around, most of us have barely seen any snow at all (with apologies to those in Scotland and the north of England).
However, we have experienced the wettest winter on record which has brought untold misery and, in some cases, hardship to many, particularly those in the Somerset levels and along the Thames Valley.
I can recall, not that long ago, walking the 182-mile long Thames Footpath from the river’s source near Kemsley, just south west of Cirencester, to the Barrier beyond Greenwich – a wonderful, relaxing 12-day jaunt which would simply have been impossible in these conditions.
One wonders to what extent this wretched weather has impeded ground preparations up and down the country.
Elsewhere, there has been plenty of good cricket weather with mixed fortunes for the England cricket teams. The men, of course, were blown away but the women, on the other hand, performed superbly to retain the Ashes under the new format, their reward being the creation of the first group of full-time women’s professional cricketers.
Having umpired more than half of the current squad at one time or another, I hope the women’s game can go from strength to strength.
Back on home soil, I am eagerly awaiting my first appointments of the new season but expect to be supervising a toss somewhere during the second week in April.
I have familiarised myself with the various law changes and believe that my fitness levels have been maintained thanks to my walking activities which, thankfully, have not been directly affected by the weather.
I have enjoyed the company of many colleagues at the various meetings and dinners I have attended and there is a general air of expectation and anticipation as we all wait, perhaps impatiently, for the ‘off’.
In the meantime, can Northampton Saints really win the Aviva Premiership? Will Northampton Town FC, ‘the Cobblers’, lose their Football League status for the first time in their history? And have Northants CCC the strength, character and belief to survive in Division One of the LV= County Championship?