I WRITE at the start of another first-class cricket season.

The universities, even strengthened as they now are, are not first-class.

The benefit of big runs and bags of wickets against Oxford UCCE are more than outweighed by the finger injury keeping Vikram Solanki out of the first two County Championship games.

A season is not won or lost by the first game, but everyone likes to make a good start and find that rhythm early which will sustain them through the coming months.

A poor start always had that regretful feeling of spoiling something which had been new.

The fixture list offers two four-day games in the contrasting surrounds of New Road and Northampton to find that elusive rhythm before the ruthlessness of one-day cricket starts with the final B&H competition.

Hampshire's promotion from division two last year was based on a very impressive home record at their new stadium.

Worcestershire will be hoping for the same effect. Last year, Steve Waugh said that he would rather be bowled out for 200 going for it on a New Road pitch, than grind to, maybe, 220.

Going for it, you always had the chance of a big score. Grinding, you were always going to get one sooner or later which you couldn't do anything about.

Last year, Worcestershire were sometimes guilty of being too cavalier.

There is bound to be movement for the seamers at this time of year. Knowing their own pitches and getting the right attacking balance is something which Graeme Hick and his team will be hoping to achieve.

Northants suffered last year because they were unable to get their spinners into the game enough.

With new acquisition, Ricky Anderson, sidelined I would expect Wantage Road to offer a different sort of challenge from New Road even at this early stage of the season. A selection problem possibly for Hick and Moody?

Vikram's absence has already eased one dilemma in the middle order.

David Leatherdale has got the number one all-rounder's spot at six, but there are four more queuing up behind him in Bichel, Batty, Rhodes and Kabir Ali, raising the possibility of moving them all up one to accommodate another spinner, or indeed another seamer.

Normally, early season, the extra batter is deemed more valuable.

The quicks want to keep bowling to stay warm and are happy to come back for more whilst the going's in their favour, so three specialists should be enough. There again, it might come down to who finds that early season rhythm first.

Selection problems, indeed, but of the best sort if not quite a Premiership squad rotation system yet!