Teenaged opener Jacob Cumming and promising left-arm spinner Ben Lockrose have been offered their first Otago contracts, while former Canterbury left-armer Andrew Hazeldine has been lured south.
The other big news is the return of South African-born all-rounder Dean Foxcroft to Dunedin to pick up where he left off two years ago.
He has been unable to return to New Zealand due the border restrictions.
The Otago Cricket Association will need to work through the visa process, but Foxcroft is hopeful he will be back in the country in August.
The 24-year-old right-hander will greatly strengthen the batting line-up, which includes Black Cap Glenn Phillips, who has a national contract.
Those gains are offset partly by the departure of experienced left-hander Nick Kelly, who has transferred to Wellington.
In 21 first-class games for the province, Kelly scored 1525 runs at an average of 43.57. He also compiled a decent one-day (810 runs at 28.92) and T20 record (751 runs at 30.04).
Cumming (18) is one of the best young openers in the country and his elevation to the contract list would have been an easy decision, while Lockrose has impressed whenever he has had opportunities.
He picked up the contract made available by the retirement of Anaru Kitchen, while Cumming’s promotion comes at the expense of Mitch Renwick, who decided the time was right to pursue other opportunities outside of cricket.
Rumours surfaced last week Otago had targeted a Canterbury seamer and that player turned out to be 27-year-old left-armer Hazeldine.
He is an aggressive bowler in the mode of Neil Wagner, only nowhere near as good. He has a modest first-class record.
In 16 games for Canterbury, he has nabbed 35 wickets at an average of 39.51. Otago will be hoping to squeeze more out of him.
Jacob Duffy and Michael Rae will lead the attack. Rae struggled with injury last summer and Duffy was below his best.
Michael Rippon’s recent selection to the Black Caps means he is no longer considered a qualifying player, which essentially freed up a contract spot for the South African-born Travis Muller.
Seamers Matt Bacon, Jarrod McKay and Jake Gibson have retained their contracts.
Volts captain Hamish Rutherford returns for another season. He is Otago’s second-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket and is climbing up the first-class list.
Batter Dale Phillips and gloveman Max Chu both enjoyed successful seasons and reclaim their places on the contract list.
Volts coach Dion Ebrahim welcomed the new additions.
"It is exciting to have a great blend of experience and young talent in our first-round contract list for the coming season," Ebrahim said.
"Newcomers Jacob Cumming and Ben Lockrose have earned their spots by virtue of their club, A and provincial form. Andrew Hazeldine transferring down from Canterbury gives us a point of difference in our bowling attack with his raw pace, left-arm seam and aggressive mindset."
Otago has two contract spots remaining to offer in the second round.
Angus McKenzie and Josh Finnie were contracted last season and might be in line for the last spots.
Otago Volts
Contract offers
Matt Bacon, Max Chu, Jacob Cumming, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Travis Muller, Dale Phillips,
Michael Rae, Michael Rippon, Hamish Rutherford.
