So to pick up from where we left off in December. The injury is on the mend, the trainings tough, I know I am back batting as I’ve been hit on the head again.... and as for getting back to bowling, sore isn’t the word; I’ve found muscles that have emerged from their winter hibernation.

Coaching has been on the increase as well as you can probably imagine. The LCA CC post Christmas courses have been a great success so far, lots of new faces and also some familiar ones too. I have been lucky to be head coach on LCA CC’s inaugural course in the New Forest. The course has been taking place at Brokenhurst college - a fantastic facility which now means we can provide our growing database of young cricketers with access to more cricket coaching in the New Forest District. Having now formed a partnership with this district I’m hoping to have the pleasure of coaching a few more aspiring cricketers from the area.

Back to the hectic months leading up to the season then; January saw the Hampshire Twenty 20 squad depart out of the snow and to the tropical paradise of the Caribbean to take part in their domestic competition. To say I was envious would have summed it up well. However every cloud has a silver lining. The fact that coaches went away with the 1^st team squad meant there were coaching gaps to fill back at the Rose Bowl. I was approached to enhance my coaching credentials working with the Hampshire Academy under the excellent guidance of Tony Middleton. I got to work with all the lads both technically and tactically but also was trusted with developing their gym programmes. To say the experience was invaluable would be an understatement. To be able to enhance my coaching knowledge in such a professional environment and with the future stars of Hampshire cricket was a fantastic opportunity and one I can hopefully pass on to the young players on LCA Cricket Coaching courses.

Getting back to full fitness and ready to start the season has been a long process but I’m now back bowling and so the one bonus is I can stop talking about how to bowl and start demonstrating it to the youngsters on our courses, something I kept having to stop myself doing. The main emphasis to get up early each morning has been the fact that I will be spending March in Barbados. A fantastic opportunity to complete my rehab and make sure I’m ready and raring to go for the start of the season. It will be nice to be back in the nets and taking full part in training again with the other lads.

Before I head away I have had to make sure the coaching side of things is covered and I have been fortunate to be able to secure the coaches I wanted to continue the work I started in the New Forest. Adam Kelly, a highly skilled coach in many areas has been drafted in to lead these sessions and Chris Benham will be back to keep up the great work he started with the guys' batting. There have also been some exiting meetings taking place in the LCA CC camp, its been tight to fit them all in but glad we did…… Keep your eyes on the website for more information and news of these and many more exiting news from LCA Cricket coaching.