Pouring rain, plummeting temperatures, a great gnashing of teeth about the future of the game... it must be the start of the cricket season.
As ever, there's lot to ponder as the domestic season stirs into action once again, from the wisdom of Andrew Strauss relinquishing the England captaincy to Alastair Cook for the Bangladesh tour to the traditional curtain-raiser of the English season between the MCC and the County Champions (Durham again) being played in Abu Dhabi... with pink balls.
That'll have retired colonels spitting out their tea with outrage the length and breadth of the country.
These days cricket is an all-year round sport - I've certainly been enjoying watching the flash and bravado of the IPL on ITV4 - but there's nothing quite like the start of the game in the shires of this country. It is one of the enduring joys of spring to think of groundsmen preparing pitches, pads beings dusted off and packed in kit bags and leathery orbs being thwacked by lengths of willow by apple-cheeked yeoman.
Before this turns into a John Major style eulogy about how cricket is the best sport in the world (and it is), I'll sign off, but the aim with this blog over the coming months is to provide a fun, light-hearted but affectionate look at the glorious game, especially with regards to my county, Essex, and my country, England.
Tootle pip for now...
