The opening exchanges are now over yet we are no clearer on how the season is going to unfold. Incredibly all the sides are off the mark and have some points on the board. Teams can relax a little and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts and be confident that they have everything to play for. If Ulster Bank ever decides to pull the plug on their sponsorship (why would they?) then the NCU should approach Ladbrokes, Paddy Power or some other prominent bookie. This season the Premier League should be renamed the Ulster Bank Handicap Chase.

North Down has lost 3 players due to defections and Waringstown has lost 3 players to Team Ireland. The rest have done some jiggling about. But the games are no longer predictable.

Derriaghy can be reasonably satisfied with their start. Two defeats but competitive efforts against Waringstown and Instonians were followed up with an incredibly nail-biting win at Carrickfergus. Thankfully the glorious Bank Holiday weather ensured no Duckworth Lewis problems this time around. Andrew Kenny and ‘Alphie' Aphale have featured with the bat in all of their matches to date. I suspect that if Derriaghy are to survive the game plan will be for these two to have good seasons with the rest contributing on a frequent basis. Kinnin's 62 not out did the trick on Monday and if they had held their catches at The Lawn they would be sitting joint top. How good would that have felt given the doubters and prophets of doom?

Peter Shields will be a relieved man. An incredible collapse by Lisburn contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Collapses usually mean a dramatic flurry of wickets but in this case it only required a few key wickets and the Lisburn challenge petered out. It is incredible how often a team that is used to winning seems to come through in these situations. North Down with vast reserves of belief simply held their nerve when it mattered. I wonder as the season unfolds just how important those four points will be to both teams. North Down is the only undefeated team so far but forget the demolition of Bangor on a green top, this was a big win. It will take time for the new players to settle and without Ryan Haire (with the Ireland U15's) they looked strangely vulnerable. Lisburn should be kicking themselves.

For Lisburn, Gerhard Strydom looks a good acquisition. Two hundreds in three innings should have been worth at least 2 wins. It's still a decent start for the club given their 2 defeats were Waringstown and North Down. Cliftonville outplayed Instonians again but this time got John Stevenson out unlike last years cup game and it was a great start for them. Defeats however against CIYMS and Carrickfergus will take all the gloss off that. Paul Stirling's excellent effort for Ireland will have delighted the club but will delay his return for a bit longer.

Bangor bounced back from the trouncing by North Down by defeating CSNI but did so courtesy of a one man show by professional Tillekaratne. An 8th wicket stand of 56 with Ryan Bell allowed Bangor to post a competitive total with the Sri Lankan scoring 76 and then took 6 wickets to blow CSNI away. Who cares, a win is a win but despite a solid bowling performance Bangor still need to show more than this.

Talking of a one man show, we had a one youngster show at Queensway where Instonians Ireland U19 player James Shannon scored 52 to follow up his 6 for 36 with the ball. Instonians will have been disappointed with their start against Cliftonville, but yet again be more frustrated at their inability to get their best team on the pitch.

Carrickfergus will be upset by the loss to Derriaghy. They have now played the two clubs who many thought would be relegated and will be disappointed not to have two wins under their belt. They will be a lot more anxious than they should have been.

CSNI have produced 2 shocks so far. Their fabulous win over Waringstown was a shock not least due to the margin of victory and their shock defeat to Bangor was something similar. The only predictable thing for CSNI this season was the opening fixture away to Carrick. It was called off.

Normal service looked to have been resumed for Waringstown when they cruised past Lisburn after their horror show the week before at The Lawn. Derriaghy benefited from 31 wides and 3 no balls after finding the Waringstown bowlers in an uncharacteristically generous mood. The Bank Holiday defeat by CSNI only reinforces the point that the Villagers will need their 3 Internationals back as soon as possible to provide some solidity with bat and ball.

We've had glorious weather, thrilling finishes, shocks and upsets, hundreds, fifties and five wicket hauls. It has been a fantastic start to the season and its only 10 days old.