Cricket North fans have fresh faces to support this summer with at least four international players joining the competition.
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Can anyone catch Westbury who won all three formats last season?
Launceston
Last year: Runners-up
Coach: Andy Gower
Captain: Cameron Lynch
Ins: Max Dowling, Will Senior (England), Nikhil Bhatkar (India), Varun Nadesh
Outs: Dean Thiesfield (Westbury), James Lee (travelling)
Coach's comment:
"We won the grand final two years ago and met Westbuy in the grand final last year so our expectation early in the season is to be playing in the grand final.
"I'm looking for more out of our batting group. Our batting group was disappointed in their output last year so I'm looking for a bit more from Ben (Humphrey), Cameron (Lynch) and Sam (Elliston-Buckley) to get back to that form of two years ago where they were averaging 40 plus."
Players to watch: Middle-order batsman George Maguire, bowler Ed Faulkner
"Maguire's development last year was extraordinary and he has really worked hard in pre-season. We had a practice match on Saturday and he batted really well."
Young players to watch: Wicket-keeper batsman Charlie Taylor, batter Max Dowling, off-spinner Roy Penn, batter Will Seimsen
"Charlie's batting has really improved in the past four weeks so I'm looking forward to him playing some A grade cricket throughout the year.
"Max has scored hundreds in England at different levels so we're really excited about what he's going to bring to the table.
"Roy's a young off-spinner who played half a dozen A grade games last year and he'll have a say in selection at some stage.
"Will is a young fella that will bat in the top four in second grade and we're hoping he can push for A grade selection."
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Mowbray
Last year: Fourth
Coach: Clinton Reid
Captain: Luke Scott
Ins: No notable changes.
Outs:
Captain's comment:
"We're attempting to try and take our one-day stuff to a higher level.
"The last couple of years we've got stuck in always being 20 or 30 runs short of being able to win some games. The focus has been on how we go about winning those key moments." - Luke Scott
Players to watch: All-rounder Ishang Shah
"He's going to open the batting for us and bowl leg-spin.
"He won our batting award last year and was very close from a bowling point of view. We're looking for him to have a big year again."
Young players to watch: All-rounder Lachie Clark and middle-order batsman Thomas Dwyer
"They're going to get some first-grade opportunities and they're involved in the Greater Northern Raiders pathway so there's a bit of excitement around seeing how much they can develop and what they can show for us."
Riverside
Last year: Third
Coach: Patty Mackrell
Captain: Peter New
Ins: Alex Townend (England), George Davies (Burnie)
Outs: Matthew Kerrison (Trevallyn)
Coach's comment: "I think we'll be very competitive. We've got a very well-balanced list with some talented juniors coming through.
"I'm keen to let our performances doing the talking this year. I think we can compete and we'll be right up the top end."
Players to watch: All-rounder Aidan O'Connor
"He's a young fella who had a breakout season last year so I'm excited to see how he comes along this season.
"He's quite explosive with the bat and can really take the game away and with the ball. He's a wicket-taker and proved that last year."
Young players to watch: Jack Manix-Geeves, Kaidyn Apted, Oliver Hadley and Alex Tubb
"They're all good quality juniors that are coming through the ranks for us. They're talented and capable with both bat and ball."
South Launceston
Last year: Fifth
Coach: Nathan Philip
Captain: Jeremy Jackson
In: Jackson Young, Josh Freestone (returning full-time) Out: Sean Harris (retired), Angus Foster (moved to Melbourne)
Coach's comment: "We're really excited for the season and hope to get back in the finals campaign after missing a couple of years.
"We think our team and squad have the ability to push deep in the finals this year."
Players to watch: Batter Mackenzie Barker, bowler Jackson Young
"Mackenzie is coming back from a significant hamstring injury last year and we're excited to have him back at the top of the order.
"As we'll miss Sean's run-scoring ability, hopefully a few of our guys will step up and we're confident Mackenzie will.
"We're excited to have Jackson Young come back from Premier League cricket in Hobart and to see what he brings to the group on and off the field."
Young players to watch: James Leake, Tom Hawkins
"James is fresh off a football finals win for Launceston in the State League.
"After being our leading wicket-taker in one-day cricket last year, we're really excited to have him for the full-season this year and see what he can do with the ball.
"We're excited to pop him up the order a bit this year and test out his all-round capability.
"Tom has really developed over the pre-season this year and will slot in as Sean's replacement I suppose which is high up the batting order. He'll be looking to score some runs for us this year.
"He's training the house down at the moment."
Westbury Shamrocks
Last year: Premiers
Coach: Chathura Athukorala
Captain: Daniel Murfet
Ins: Dean Thiesfield (Launceston)
Outs: Michael Lukic (year off), Nasrullah Khan (Longford)
Coach's comment:
"The competition appears very even this year so we're going to take it one week at a time.
"We have heaps of young talent coming up and they'll have a good opportunity to bat in the top order as well as opportunities with the ball.
"There's the chance for young guns like Joel Lloyd and Joe Griffin to step up."
Players to watch: Batters Daniel Murfet and Nathan Parkin
"They're very committed players, they never miss a session and always want to improve."
Young players to watch: All-rounder Joel Lloyd and top-order batter Joe Griffin
"They train with purpose and want to improve every single session and always ask questions."
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