Green Island will have plenty of teams nibbling at its heels as club cricket starts today.
The vastly experienced Swamp Rats, as they are known, head into the season with most of the wise heads still turning out and the side will be hard to knock over.
They only major defection from the defending Bing Harris Trophy champion is Russell Ritchie, who has given the game away because of family commitments.
But there are familiar faces there in the form of Dion Lobb, Nathan Watt, Ant Harris and Mark Joyce. The side can also call on the firepower of Hamish Rutherford, Christi Viljoen and Blair Soper.
The major acquisition for Green Island is all-rounder Geordie Scott, from Kaikorai. He has been one of the leading performers in club cricket in the past couple of seasons and is keen to make an impact at the next level. Blake Buttar-Scurr is back after missing last season with injury.
Youngster Joel Meade has work commitments in Central Otago but is still hopeful of playing, while veteran Bradley Scott will play when required.
The impact of Neil Broom and Jimmy Neesham not being initially selected for the Black Caps could have ramifications for club cricket.
With Broom and Neesham now playing for Otago to start with, two Otago players will move down into club cricket from the Volts.
One intriguing player lining up for Albion is wicketkeeper-batsman Joe Austin-Smellie.
Austin-Smellie played for New Zealand under-19 and then Wellington as a teenager but gave the game away in 2012.
His hunger for the game had faded and he ended up heading overseas, getting married and having a family.
He has now turned up in Dunedin and had raised the eye of the Volts coaches. He is a good acquisition for Albion, which will have some confidence going into the season.
Albion captain Josh Cuttance said the side was looking to build on a strong campaign last season, which ended with it finishing second at the national club championships in Auckland.
The Eagles have lost pace bowler Michael Snedden who has headed north to finish his teaching degree. All-rounder Teja Nidamanuru has returned to Auckland.
The side, though, still has plenty of options in batting with Josh Tasman-Jones and Jack Harper looking to score heavily with the bat.
Cuttance and Dexter Marsh will lead the bowling attack while new Volts Matt Bacon and Shawn Hicks could be seen often in Albion colours.
North East Valley has some high-profile names starting the season with both Broom and Neesham set to play for the side.
The Kindley brothers have plenty of talent and the side will be coached by Adam Miles.
The Valley side has been floating around for a while now without being in contention so it needs to push on this season.
Kaikorai won the title two seasons ago but struggled to get going last year. It has a large squad to pick from and Matt Hunter has returned after missing last season.
He will captain the side. Youngster Taine Bayly has moved across town from Carisbrook-Dunedin to join his brother Rhys.
Young bowlers Ryan Whelan and James Hartshorn are expected to provide the bowling firepower for Kaikorai with Hunter, Josh Finnie, when available, and the Bayly brothers, expected to provide the runs. The side beat Christchurch side Old Collegians last weekend which was a positive.
It is something of a new era for Carisbrook-Dunedin this season. Sean Eathorne has retired and there is no Eathorne listed in the squad for this season.
The Eathorne family has contributed a lot to the club over the past few years but time marches on.
Much of the team from last year has returned but the side has a new coach in Jamie McFarland.
He comes from Hawke’s Bay where he was involved with the province’s Hawke Cup team as a manager. The club was hoping to bring more consistency into its game.
The team will be captained by fringe Volts player Rhys Phillips and has a couple of very promising players in Ryan Duffy and Nathan Smith.
Kurt Johnson has been playing in Darwin and Max Chu will be looking to score some runs.
Taieri struggled at times last season and though it always took wickets it could not score enough runs to win games.
To rectify that it has brought in Sam Butler from the Hythe Cricket Club in the Kent League.
Skipper Cam McAuslan said the side was young but most of the players had two or three years’ experience under their belt.
The side needed to score more runs and with Warren Barnes and Jack Hunter in the bowling attack it should be able to bowl sides out.
The season starts with a round of twenty20 matches, followed by the first round of one-day games. Another round of T20 will be played in the lead-in to Christmas.
A white ball will be used in all limited-overs cricket, which has found favour with most clubs.
Declaration cricket begins on January 20, with the final round of one-day games to begin on February 24. With the wet winter, artificial pitches will be used in the foreseeable future.
University Grange will field teams in the lower grade. Otago Boys’ High School asked about playing in the top grade, at least until Christmas, but the clubs did not agree, not wanting to have a bye in the competition.
