 Lewis-Francis has been struggling with injury over the winter |
Mark Lewis-Francis got his 2006 season off to an encouraging start by winning an invitational race at the new Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) track. The 23-year-old clocked 10.22 seconds to finish ahead of Australians Daniel Batman, Adam Miller and Joshua Ross.
"I came into this run totally blind," said Lewis-Francis. "I am shocked, I can't believe what has happened."
The 100m was the highlight of a meeting to mark athletics' return to the MCG ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Northern Ireland's James McIlroy also got his preparations under way by winning the 800m in one minute 47.50 seconds.
Mo Farrah was a comfortable winner of the 5,000m in 13:40.79 while Chris Baillie clocked a personal best of 13.77 to win the 110m hurdles
Athletics has returned to the famous cricketing venue for the first time in 50 years to stage the Commonwealths. The MCG also held events at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
An eight-lane track and jump and field area have been laid over the cricket pitch, which has not been used since 30 December.
 |  This race has blasted out the cobwebs and I'm looking forward to the Games |
Britain's Marlon Devonish, who finished a disappointing last in the 100m with a time of 10.40, believes the atmosphere at the MCG will help produce some blistering performances at next month's Games.
"The stadium is colossal so running in front of that kind of crowd is only going to bring out your best," Devonish told BBC Sport.
"The track is in great condition although there is a slight swirling wind inside the stadium."
Lewis-Francis and Devonish, who are both coached by Tony Lester, teamed up to win 4x100m Olympic gold in 2004 and the duo expect to return to form in Melbourne.
"We're feeling positive about the Commonwealths and expect to be in better shape than we were in this race," said Devonish.
"Mark's not been feeling on top of the world in training so he's surprised by his victory.
"I've been feeling quite flat over the last few days and that's shown in my performance - it felt like a shabby training run.
"But this race has blasted out the cobwebs and I'm looking forward to the Games."
MMIX
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