Will Rhodes knows there will be "a lot of excitement" around Edgbaston when Warwickshire launch the defence of their LV= Insurance County Championship title.
For only the eighth time in their 140-year history, the Bears begin their campaign as champions and they have been allocated a mouth-watering opener against a Surrey side likely to challenge hard for their title.
The start of every cricket season comes amid high anticipation. Few have arrived accompanied by more fervour from Warwickshire's players and fans alike after the brilliant conclusion to the 2021 season.
That was truly memorable. But now, insists Rhodes, it's all about looking forward and, first up, taking on a Surrey team including overseas stars Hashim Amla and Kemar Roach.
"Surrey are very strong and it's going to be a really competitive game," the skipper said. "It's going to be a really high-class First Class cricket match and that's what two-division championship cricket is all about because you want to play the best teams week in and week out.
"They know about our players, Dom Sibley in particular because of his connections with them, but we know about them too and, while they are strong, we have some very talented players right the way down our team. It's all set to be a fantastic game."
The Bears would certainly settle for a similar result to last time they hosted Surrey in the championship, in 2019, when they won by 130 runs thanks to the brilliance of Jeetan Patel (match figures of 62-32-89-12).
But though confident, the Bears are far from giddy and while they delivered some scintillating cricket last year, their preparations for this season have also touched upon the tougher days of 2021.
"Everyone remembers the good days from last year but we have also spoken about the bad days - the game at Durham and the defeat at home to Hampshire. It's about keeping ourselves level so that when we do have the bad days this season we can come back stronger and win some games."
England trio Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes are available for Surrey but Chris Woakes has not been made available for the Bears. Liam Norwell also misses out, due to a back spasm, but is expected to be available for the next match, at home to Essex in two weeks time.
Aussie fast bowler Nathan McAndrew will be available to make his debut in that match, as will new signing Alex Davies who misses the first game due to a one-match suspension.
Squad
Will Rhodes (C)Jacob BethellDanny BriggsHenry BrookesMichael Burgess (WK)Sam HainOlly Hannon-DalbyManraj JohalMatt LambCraig MilesDan MousleyDom SibleyRob Yates
How to Follow
Members and supporters can follow the match live in our new-look Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free to watch Live Stream, with BBC commentary, and a live text commentary. You will need to log-in to you My Edgbaston account to watch. Supporters can get involved by sending their match day comments and thoughts to matchday@edgbaston.com, and we'll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre. Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android. Match updates will also be available across the Club's social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.
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