INEVITABLY, the rain has provoked most comment as the new season has got under way. Comments about the foolishness of such an early start have abounded.

Interesting, therefore, to note that, last year, Worcestershire opened their campaign on April 13, two days earlier than this year. Strictly speaking, they started on the 14th, because the first day was lost to snow!

However, we shouldn't assume that the inclusion of a B&H qualifying competition has forced an even earlier start; this is a trend which has been developing for some time, as the result of extra days leading into test matches, A Team tours, four-day cricket and the requirements of a more complex fixture list.

The rain has, however, been remarkable and worthy of comment even by seasoned weather watchers, such as cricket players and spectators inevitably become.

I've known pre-season affected by flooding, but never the season itself. As I left the ground at the end of the scheduled first day against Glamorgan, it looked a distinct possibility.

There was certainly nothing to dispel the gloom created by the sudden and confusing exit from the B&H Cup. Worcestershire finished below Warwickshire because they lost their head to head 10 over contest and were thus unable to compete with the other third placed teams on the basis of best net run rate.

So Surrey end up going through rather than one team with more points than them, Derbyshire, and another, Worcestershire, with the same number of points and a significantly better net run rate. And, by the way, why were we placed below Northants when we had a better-run rate and we had been rained off against them?

Cledarly, I have been out of the game too long to keep pace with the intricacies of the new laws.

I wonder what Glenn McGrath made of it all. Two overs on a sodden Edgbaston would not have been his idea of how he would have liked to start his county career. In August, he returns to Australia for a one-day series with South Africa which is being played indoors. Now there's a thought -- cricket at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with a retractable roof?

There is, however, plenty to be positive about amidst the dampness. Paul Pollard has made a bright start in difficult conditions, much like last year. A continuation of such form into the four-day programme would be a major boost.

Elliot Wilson and Reuben Spiring are both playing and shaping well, apparently overcoming their injury worries, while Kabir Ali notched an impressive first B&H scalp in Matthew Elliot on the way to a match winning performance against Glamorgan.

And McGrath is here and playing. I remember when Garth le Roux turned up in Worcester only to decide he liked the look of Sussex better.

The players themselves are upbeat as you would expect at this stage of a season. In no way do they feel that this season is devalued by playing in a second division for their first class cricket. But then a division which boasts Donald, Akhtar and McGrath can hardly be thought of as second class.

And then there is their first division status in the National One Day league. As I write this, cricket on Sunday against Yorkshire, the opening match in that competition, looks like the earliest possible resumption of play at New Road.