THE season is well under way now and with the glorious weather it feels like the middle of August, especially with the amount of cricket we have played already.

Our left arm spinner Dean ‘The Lurker’ Cosker has informed me he had already bowled 220 overs before we entered May!

That’s compared to the 400 he bowled in the whole of the 2010 season and it just show how dry the wickets have been due to the hot weather in April.

I have been a regular visitor to my local club Panteg recently with my golden Labrador Jim and I have not seen the ground as dry and as hard in my whole life. The obvious is bound to happen soon and we are going to have constant rain for a month!

It has been raining runs recently and no more than at the Swalec Stadium when Surrey visited at the end of April.

Of course it was the return of Tom Maynard to Cardiff and, as a good friend of Tom’s myself, I actually felt nervous for him in a strange way.

He managed to get through some nervous moments at the start of his innings but pulled through to complete a highest career score of 123.

Some of the boys were trying their best to put him off with some humourous gamesmanship tactics, which unfortunately didn’t work! We all had a pint (or two) afterwards anyway!

The wicket at Cardiff was very flat for the visit of Surrey and at one stage we were in a spot of trouble in our first innings. After some fine swing bowling by Stuart Meaker (who I think will play for England soon) we were 90 for 4 and in need of a nightwatchman.

Step forward the Cwmbran Gladiator that is Huw Waters! Huw batted extremely well and took everything that Surrey threw at him, including some vicious blows to the hand and neck in the process.

He was eventually run out by my mate Mark Wallace to the delight of Surrey boys and if they hadn’t run him out I’m sure he would still be there now! Huw has a back injury at the moment and I hope to see him back to fitness soon.

The following Sunday saw the boys take on Gloucestershire in their first 40 over game of the summer.

It was a disappointing result but there were many positives to take from the game. It was nice to see Stewart Walters get some runs and he looks the business from what I have seen of him so far. Also the fielding was excellent and we now have some good competition in team to be the top fielder.

The likes of Cosker, Walters and Wright are looking to get above myself and Crofty at the top.

The game against Essex was hard for the boys as they probably had the better of it for long periods.

But Essex having Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara in their team is a massive advantage to have at the start of the season. I think Bopara nailed down his position for the first test batting at six on the last day knowing a big knock would secure his spot.

Taunton was the venue for our CB40 game last Sunday.

Now you may remember it was a record breaker last year with Somerset scoring 368 in their 40 overs, with my eight overs travelling for 100.

As soon as we pulled through the gates on Sunday my heart sank a little and you would have thought the boys may have taken pity on me? I was the butt of all jokes for the whole day with jokes like “Somerset lost £10,000 last year because you lost all their balls when you were bowling.” It went on all day.

Unfortunately I wasn’t at the game in a playing sense. With my hip injury needing more time to heal I have been able to help out with some coaching during the past week or so. I’ve really enjoyed the new role and its something I would like to do in the future. Watch this space.

Arguably the highlight of the past fortnight was Newport Gwent Dragons beating Cardiff Blues at Rodney Parade. I went to the game with two Blues supporters. The look on their faces when the Dragons romped home in the last five minutes was priceless.