The Academy led the charge, bursting back onto the scene on a glorious Thursday evening. Sixty youngsters — giddy with freedom, gambolling in the evening sun like lambs released into a summer meadow — filled the ground with noise, energy and unbridled enthusiasm. Parents and players alike were quick to praise the club's lovely new facilities, and the smell of the BBQ drifting across the ground set the tone perfectly. This is what cricket is supposed to feel like.

The league men shook off their winter rust with two successful pre-season fixtures, while the women's section returned to training with typical determination, before making their first competitive foray of the season in the softball league.

Then came Sunday. The men faced BBC Bushmen CC in their opening social match — a dramatic, sun-drenched affair played in the best possible spirit, washed down with great beer and fantastic wine. Outwood fell fourteen runs short, but nobody who was there seemed particularly devastated about it.

And now the stakes rise. This weekend the Academy youngsters swap nets for match days as their competitive season gets underway — expect the same enthusiasm, considerably more nerves, and a great deal of parental encouragement from the boundary. Next week the intensity cranks up further still, with the men's Slam and KCVL league campaigns both kicking off in earnest, and the women's Slam getting underway too. Months of preparation, pre-season toil and optimistic team selections all come down to this. Outwood Cricket Club — all sections, all ages, all in. Let's go.