Angus Fraser has had to put the reins on his Middlesex players ahead of Sunday’s curtain-raiser against Warwickshire at Lord’s.
The County Championship fixture will kick-start the cricket season for Middlesex, despite six of the nine teams starting last weekend.
Only Lancashire, Yorkshire and Middlesex did not take part in the Division One opening weekend and will have to wait until Sunday for play to begin.
And the former England bowler believes his side are chomping at the bit to start their campaign.
The 50 year old said: “We are ready to be playing at Lord’s.
“We had a good pre-season, where we went to South Africa, but we are a week behind everybody else with our first fixture.
“We have the players on a bit of a rein, trying to hold them back to make sure they are not getting too far ahead of themselves.”
Middlesex host a strong Warwickshire side first up who settled for a draw after their four-day clash at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl.
Ian Bell scored a century, while Chris Woakes made 66 in chasing down Hampshire’s first innings score of 202.
And Middlesex’s managing director is wary of the challenge posed by last summer’s mid-table finishers.
Fraser added: “Warwickshire are a good side, they’ve got some players with a point to prove.
“You have got your Bells, your Trotts, your Woakes’.
“Recently it has been hard for us to get the better of them and when we have been on top we haven’t been able to drive home a win.”
Middlesex also reacquired former Australian international Adam Voges for the upcoming season.
The experienced batsman will replace compatriot Chris Rogers, who departed to join Somerset after a successful four-year spell at Lord’s.
Rogers, who signed in 2011, scored 480 runs in Australia’s 3-2 Ashes defeat last year.
And despite losing the 38-year-old, Fraser expects Voges, who scored 201 in that same series, to star for his side.
He said: “Chris Rogers is arguably in the top four or five overseas players that Middlesex has ever had.
“He was brilliant for us and just what we needed.
“Adam Voges made a really positive influence on us each time that he has been here – he’s an outstanding person as well as a magnificent cricketer.
“Coming in at five and being captain kind of fitted what we were looking for.”
