Surrey begin the outdoor bowls season today with a visit to Cambridgeshire, followed by a home match against Warwickshire at Southey Bowls Club, Raynes Park, on Saturday.

At the start of every season the bowlers of Surrey look forward to a successful season with their performances in both the Middleton Cup and the Senior Home Counties League rightly taking the highest priority.

Team Manager David Candeland said: “Our expectations are extremely high - Surrey is the sleeping giant and is on the brink of success.

“I believe we have improved over the past 2 years with more of the younger players gaining the experience of playing in Home Counties and Middleton Cup matches.

“They now know the pressures involved so I think we will better prepared.

The selectors have great faith in the players of Surrey to produce quality bowling, they have the right mental attitude to succeed and have a fantastic team spirit.

“We will have certainly learned from the disappointing result during the last campaign when we were caught on the hop in our first game (away against Buckinghamshire). What impressed me the most was how the lads bounced back against Sussex and Middlesex, and only losing to Kent over the final few ends. This showed the true fighting spirit which is growing within the team. The negative thoughts were diminished and the compatibility in the rinks brought us consistency and confidence.

I have been saying for a few years now that Surrey will be successful in both the Middleton Cup and Home Counties if our players are committed to the cause and support what the selectors are trying to achieve. The County is fully committed to the project and has been extremely supportive of the selectors and myself. We are working together to try and improve things both on and off the green, full commitment from everyone will reap the rewards.”

New County President Aga Hassan, from the Old Coulsdon Club, leads the County into a full fixture list of 20 county matches and also nearly as many of his President’s matches.

He will be hoping for a similar record to last year’s president Frank Dodd who won 14 county friendly matches last season and lost only four.