Strauss - leading the team in 2002 Photo CricInfo

To start the new season with a farewell to one of my trustiest team-mates is sad. Gus Fraser has been a great servant to Middlesex and England. I've grown up with him really – in the Middlesex dressing room – and we've both sworn and cursed at a few batters over the years! But life goes on – it's a wonderful opportunity that's opened up for him, and I wish him all the best in his new job as cricket correspondent of The Independent.

It's a good decision to give the captaincy to Andrew Strauss. He's learned a lot with the Academy over the winter, and I've no doubt he'll rise to the challenge. We're a young side – but last season we did much better than many of the pundits expected, and in the end we could well have won the Division Two title if we hadn't fallen away a bit at the end. It could well be a foundation for bigger things to come.

The batting has potential, with the likes of Ben Hutton and Ed Joyce, and Sven Koenig, the South African left-hander, looks like a real acquisition. He's compact, composed, plays straight and knows his game. And Stephen Nikitaras' left-arm seam bowling should give our attack some extra bite. Later in the season we'll be boosted by the Pakistani all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. He's a tremendous signing, especially for one-day cricket where he bats aggressively and bowls useful medium pace. Before he arrives the tall Queenslander, Ashley Noffke, is certain to play a leading role.

In fact, it`s such a young side that I feel I'm getting old! I'm very responsible now, giving bowling talks to the rest of the team! But I'm still enjoying it, and I've still got goals to aim at, mainly Middlesex's promotion to Division One of the Frizzell County Championship.

Overall, the competition looks very open. For the Division One title I like the look of Sussex – they've got a strong seam attack, and after winning the Second Division title last year, who's to say that they can't go all the way? Last season, all three promoted teams went straight back down again, and I don't think that will happen to Sussex. I'd prefer a slight change to the format – although I'm in favour of promotion and relegation, I think three up, three down is harsh on the third team that goes down. Surrey and Yorkshire have both got to be fair bets for the main prize as well – Surrey with their strength in depth, and Yorkshire, holders of course, with their seam bowling.

As for us, we're make the trip north to Chester-le-Street for the Friday opener – let's hope it doesn't snow!

Phil Tufnell appears courtesy of Paragon Sports Management

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