My, my, my, what a fabulous start we had to the cricket season. With the season opening with a 20/20 tournament cricket fans were treated to some fascinating, breathtaking, explosive cricket. Although it is new to Bermuda it is not new around the world. Many wondered how the players would adjust to playing it. Personally, from looking on down at St.David's I think the players gave a very good account of themselves. Having looked around the country I think it will shape up to be a very interesting season with close competition in both leagues.

I have to say I was very impressed with some teams over the weekend. The teams that stood out for me were St.David's, St.George's, Police, Somerset, Leg Trappers and PHC. Could these be the teams that will also dominate throughout the various leagues as they get started?

I strongly believe that in the Premier division the team to beat will be St.David's. Even though they have lost four players they have regained the services of Landroe Bascombe. Having played with and coached Landroe I have to be the first to admit I am glad to see him back as he is nothing but class. Giving St.David's competition for honors this year I think will be Somerset, Cleveland, and Police. At the other end of the table I see St.George's, Social Club, Rangers and Devonshire Rec battling it out not to be relegated.

I know many of you may be surprised by my choices regarding relegation in particular St.George's and Social Club. St.George's has one of the best bowling attacks in the league, but probably one of the worst batting teams. Social Club on the other hand, will struggle without Glen Blakeney and their only real hope of retaining their title and finishing in the top four is if Ricky Hoyte appears for them this season.

In the First Division, I would be very surprised if Bailey's Bay don't walk away with the title. In this division the race will be for second place between PHC, Leg Trappers and Willow Cuts. With Flatt's relegated they will find life hard without James Celestine and Nelson Bascombe, but they could still have a slight say depending on the form of player coach Dean Minors.

Bay with the inclusion of Glen Blakeney and Rodney Trott along with the full time services of Irving Romaine the Bermuda captain, simply have too much class for the rest of the division.

Having experienced our first weekend of cricket I felt it necessary to get some feedback from players on how they felt about the start of the season:

Oronde Bascombe: "As a batsman you have to have a different mentality as the game is at a much quicker pace. As an opening bat I was looking to bat as many of the 20 over's as possible. From a fielding perspective we were bowling to contain and not to get wickets as we knew that through containing them wickets would eventually come. I found more people came out to watch the game as it was something new and exciting."

Sammy Robinson (Warwick): "The 20/20 game itself was very fun, but very intense. I thought it was a good way to start the season. Personally, I can see the benefits of the game i.e. running between the wickets, dealing with different situations. As a team we were just trying to keep the momentum as we found the momentum of a game can change very quickly."

Steven Douglas Jr. (Cleveland): "I enjoyed the game tremendously. However, it was a disappointing way to start the season without umpires for the first-ever 20/20. The crowd wasn't bad either, but I thought it could have been promoted more."

Jonté Smith, 13 years old, (St.George's): "I was a bit nervous as it was my first senior game. My captain showed a lot of confidence in me by bowling me at the end with two overs to go and 30 runs for them to win, but he kept telling me 'relax it is no pressure'.

" To play against Cleveland made it even more special as that is my father's team. I have always wanted to play against him (Clay Smith) and hopefully before he ends his career I will also get a chance to play with him."

Well as you can see the players have started the season on a high note. It should make for a very competitive year. I urge all the players to train hard and do themselves and their clubs proud. If the first week of 20/20 cricket is a reflection on how the season will be, Bermuda we should be in for some good, exciting, quality cricket.