BENDIGO
Captain: Nathan Fitzpatrick
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Last year: Fourth
Leading runs 2017-18: Kyle Humphrys 741, Shane Koop 378, Craig Pearce 266, Mark Ryan 234.
Most wickets 2017-18: Alex Pearson 28, Kyle Humphrys 28, Tom Hart 24, Bailey Goodwin 11, Matt Gray 10.
Arrivals: Nathan Fitzpatrick (North Geelong), Liam Evans (Nathalia), Kane Goldsworthy (Cobram).
Departures: Mitchell Bench.
Co-coach Shane Koop says: "We're excited for the year ahead. The pre-season has been really good.
"Player retention has been a highlight and training engagement and standards have been excellent. If all that translates to winning games of cricket and playing finals that will be great, but we haven't spoken about finals or taking that next step yet."
Summary: Nathan Fitzpatrick's return, the arrival of speedster Kane Goldsworthy and the expected improvement in Alex Pearson gives the Goers arguably the premier three-pronged pace attack in the competition. Throw in the spin combination of Kyly Humphrys, Tom Hart and another recruit Liam Evans, and the Goers have all bases covered with the ball.
Anything less than a grand final appearance would be disappointing for the Goers.
BENDIGO UNITED
Captain: Leigh McDermott
Last year: Tenth
Leading runs 2017-18: Chris Howgate 272, Jake Thrum 259, Mark Di Fede 212.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Jake Thrum 20, Miggy Podosky 20, Chris Howgate 10.
Arrivals: Jake Klemm (Kangaroo Flat), Jayden Templeton (Dunolly), Hayden Smith (Mooroopna), Ash Younghusband (Arnold).
Departures: Jake Thrum (Darwin), Harry Donegan (retired), Mark Di Fede (retired), Josh Thurston (Tatura).
Leigh McDermott says: "Overall, we want to improve and be more competitive. Our A-grade team will only have two players aged 30 and over, so we'll continue to rebuild with young players.
"We needed some help in our batting and Jake Klemm, Jayden Templeton and Riley Treloar will all come into our top six."
Summary: The recruitment of Jake Klemm from the Roos adds some much-needed class to the Redbacks' top-order, while all-rounder Jayden Templeton has good wraps.
The Rebacks' success with the ball will again rest largely with experienced duo Leigh McDermott and Miggy Podosky.
The Redbacks' depth will be tested in the second half of the season, with Chris Howgate and Corey Daniels to depart Bendigo.
EAGLEHAWK
Captain: Cory Jacobs
Last year: Sixth
Leading runs 2017-18: Jeremy Brown 595, Cory Jacobs 336, Anthony West 332, Aaron Monro 239.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Richard Tibbett 18, Aaron Monro 15, Cam McGlashan 13, Nick Farley 10, Todd Brown 10.
Arrivals: Russell Stockdale (Finley).
Departures: Jeremy Brown (retired), Todd Brown (Emu Creek).
Cory Jacobs says: "Last year we started poorly and we were chasing our tail to make the finals. This year we want to make a strong start and get back into that top four."
Summary: The Borough will be keen to bounce back from a season to forget in 2017-18 when they failed to make the finals. Originally from the UK, Russell Stockdale is a frontline leg-spinner and hard-hitting batsman. How far the Hawks go will depend on how many of their batsmen fire. The retirement of Jeremy Brown leaves a big hole.
GOLDEN SQUARE
Captain: Ben Gunn
Last year: Third
Leading runs 2017-18: Ben Gunn 455, Zane Keighran 416, Kyle Chant 325, Scott Trollope 251, Liam Smith 241.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Scott Trollope 21, Liam Smith 19, Saheed Akolade 19, Jamie Bysouth 18, Darren Clutton 17.
Arrivals: Scott Woodman (Carlton).
Departures: Saheed Akolade (Huntly-North Epsom), Zane Keighran, Darren Clutton
Ben Gunn says: "We've lost a couple of key players, but I still think we have a side that can be competitive and, hopefullly, take that extra step. Scott Woodman is a quality player and he'll probably bat at three. Hopefully, he gets cleared to bowl later in the year because he'd probably be the quickest bowler in the league when he's up and going."
Summary: The Bulldogs might be the hardest team in the competition to assess. Scott Woodman is arguably the best recruit in the competition. The former Carlton all-rounder is recovering from a back injury and every opposition batsmen in the league will be hoping he doesn't bowl this summer.
Zane Keighran (back injury and football) is a chance to play later in the season. If all the cards fall Square's way then there's no reason why they won't be heavily involved in action in March.
HUNTLY-NORTH EPSOM
Captain: Elliot Massina
Last year: Ninth
Leading runs 2017-18: Sandun Ranathunga 307, Josh Collinson 303.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Peter Moore 21, Brett Elvey 14, Cory Tanner 10, Cameron Moore 10.
Arrivals: Saheed Akolade (Golden Square), Siddamarakkalage De Silva (East Coburg), Adam Ward (Rochester), Danushka Wijemanna (Lower Plenty), Amara Shakthi.
Departures: Cam Moore (Sedgwick), Anthony Tanner (retired).
Elliott Massina says: "We'd like to think we can jump up the ladder a couple of spots. We recruited well last year and it didn't work out for us because of injuries.
"Late in the year last season we feel away in some games pretty badly, so we want to be more competitive this year and make sure we're still in games at 5pm. If we can pinch a couple more wins it will be a big step forward."
Summary: Hard to place the Power. On paper it looks like they've recruited well.
If this group can gel into a unified team then there's more than enough talent for the Power to jump into the top four and be a premiership threat. If there's little improvement on last year's ninth place then it's mighty hard to justify the investments made.
KANGAROO FLAT
Captain: Brent Hamblin
Last year: Fifth
Leading runs 2017-18: Dylan Gibson 470, Daniel Barber 305, Brent Hamblin 299, Nathan Stubbins 299, Jake Klemm 287.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Brent Hamblin 28, Dylan Klemm 24, Chris Barber 16, Jamie Dass 10.
Arrivals: Matt Dwyer (Sedgwick), Zac McCarthy (Durham), Nick Ryan (Lexton).
Departures: Jake Klemm (BUCC), Nathan Stubbings (overseas), Jamie Dass (UK).
Brent Hamblin says: "Our bowling generally looks after itsellf, it's our batting that we need to improve. Burnsy (Adam Burns) only played three games last year because of injury, but he has done a full pre-season and he's back bowling at the pace he was three or four seasons ago.
"With a few of the other clubs losing a few key players I think it's going to be an open race for the finals."
Summary: At first glance the loss of Jake Klemm appears to heavily hinder the Roos batting. However, there's plenty of confidence at Dower Park that recruits Matt Dwyer and English import Zac McCarthy give the Roos a more potent batting line-up.
A fully fit Adam Burns makes a huge difference to the Roos with bat and ball. The Roos don't lack firepower with the ball, with Nick Ryan giving the club an extra paceman. If their batsmen can make runs consistently, then the Roos will push for a finals berth.
SANDHURST
Captain: Craig Howard
Last year: First
Leading runs 2017-18: Nayana Palamandadige 787, Ash Gray 487, Sam de Silva 388, Craig Howard 364, Taylor Beard 336.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Taylor Beard 30, Craig Howard 26, Will Keck 21, Sam Sperling 20, Todd Murphy 19.
Arrivals: Shasheen Fernando (Sri Lanka), Joel Murphy (Moama), Matthew Combe (Horsham).
Departures: Todd Murphy (St Kilda), Sam de Silva, Nayana Palamandadidge.
Coach Taylor Beard says: "Sides are going to come at us, but our focus will be to play our game and, hopefully, that's good enough.
"There's fresh faces around the club that have that hunger for success and there's a couple of blokes that missed out on playing in the grand final last year that are keen to step up this year."
Summary: The Dragons lost three key players from their premiership side, but the replacements look just as good. Matt Combe is a Vic Country representative who will bat in the top four and bowl first change.
Joel Murphy replaces his brother Todd. Joel doesn't bowl as well as his baby brother, but he's made plenty of runs with Moama and he'll slot into the top-order alongside the Dragons' new Sri Lankan Shasheen Fernando. Premiership skipper Craig Howard will miss several games because of work commitments with Cricket Australia.
STRATHDALE-MARISTIANS
Captain: Ben DeAraugo
Last year: Second.
Leading runs 2017-18: Ben DeAraugo 464, James Vlaeminck 431, Sam Johnston 391, Linton Jacobs 358, Jack Neylon 328.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Cam Taylor 39, Sam Johnston 26, Jacob DeAraugo 19, James Vlaeminck 13, Ryan Haythorpe 10.
Arrivals: Adrian Pappin.
Departures: Nick Baker (retired).
Ben DeAraugo says: "We're not bringing too many players in and we're hopeful of improvement from within, particularly with our batting.
"We didn't have a consistent year with the bat last year. We'll be hoping to get more runs out of Jack Neylon. Cam Taylor was awesome with the ball, but didn't have a great year with the bat and I can make runs as well."
Summary: The Suns won't have injured keeper Linton Jacobs until after Christmas and paceman Dylan Bailie will only play the first few games before moving overseas.
Adrian Pappin's return adds some firepower to the Suns' middle-order, while his seam up medium-pacers are a handy option for the skipper. The Suns’ class, combined with the pain of last year's grand final loss, means they'll be there again when the whips are cracking.
STRATHFIELDSAYE
Captain: Ben Devanny
Last year: Seventh
Leading runs 2017-18: Ben Devanny 564, Pat Felmingham 328, Greg Lyon 317.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Michael Curtis 18, Ben Devanny 16, Cory Devanny 14.
Arrivals: Luke Jones (Wodonga), Marc Sherwell (Bagshot), Savith Priyan (Sri Lanka Army), Chathura Camith (Sri Lanka Army).
Departures: Greg Lyon (second XI captain), Cory Devanny (overseas), Mitch Cheesman (injured), Zoltan Smyth (injured).
Ben Devanny says: "We're certainly going to have more depth with bat and ball this year. Having a quality left-arm spinner is something we haven't had and that will help us a lot. We'd like to think we can get closer to the top four than what we have been in the past couple of years."
Summary: Strathfieldsaye's success will hinge largely on the performances of Sri Lankan imports Savith Priyan and Chathura Camith. Priyan is a left-arm spinner and top-order batsman, while Camith is a fast-medium bowler who bats agressively in the middle-order. Both have played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka.
At the very least they'll take the pressure off skipper Ben Devanny, who has carried a huge load with bat and ball in recent seasons.
WHITE HILLS
Captain: Mitch Winter-Irving
Last year: Eighth
Leading runs 2017-18: Gavin Bowles 487, Mitch Winter-Irving 365, Ryan Grundy 360.
Leading wickets 2017-18: Mitch Winter-Irving 25, Linton Jacobs 21, Rhys Irwin 20.
Arrivals: Caleb Barras (Melbourne Uni, Albury).
Departures: Nil.
Mitch Winter-Irving says: "Our pre-season has been awesome. Having new coach Tony Marasco on board has made a big difference.
"Hopefully, we get some improvement out of a few blokes and that might be enough to get us into the top four. Last year we lost two or three games in the last over or so. Winning tight games can be the difference between making finals and not.
Summary: It's a carbon copy of last year's preview for the Demons. You know what you're going to get from Gavin Bowles, Mitch Winter-Irving and Rhys Irwin, but the rest of the team are either inconsistent or yet to prove themselves as genuine first XI players. Batsman Caleb Barras joins the Demons and he'll give some much-needed help to Bowles and Winter-Irving in the top order.
SEASON PREDICTIONS
Adam Bourke
Premiers: Strathdale-Maristians.
Top four: Strathdale-Maristians, Bendigo, Sandhurst, Golden Square.
Wooden spoon: Bendigo United.
Cricketer of the Year: Sam Johnston (Strathdale-Maristians).
Player to watch: Scott Woodman (Golden Square).
Headline you’d like to see: Money can’t buy you love in BDCA flag race.
Luke West
Premiers: Golden Square.
Top four: Golden Square, Bendigo, Sandhurst, Strathdale-Maristians.
Wooden spoon: Strathfieldsaye.
Cricketer of the Year: Nathan Fitzpatrick (Bendigo).
Player to watch: Shasheen Fernando (Sandhurst).
Headline you’d like to see: Wily veterans out of retirement to spark Redback revival.
Kieran Iles
Premiers: Bendigo.
Top four: Bendigo, Strathdale-Maristians, Sandhurst, Eaglehawk.
Wooden spoon: Strathfieldsaye.
Cricketer of the Year: Nathan Fitzpatrick (Bendigo).
Player to watch: Danushka Wijemanna (Huntly-North Epsom).
Headline you’d like to see: Bendigo claims drought-breaking flag in 125th birthday year.
Anthony Pinda
Premiers: Sandhurst.
Top four: Sandhurst, Bendigo, Huntly-North Epsom, Kangaroo Flat.
Wooden spoon: White Hills.
Cricketer of the Year: Brent Hamblin (Kangaroo Flat).
Player to watch: Kane Goldsworthy (Bendigo).
Headline you’d like to see: Dragons win premiership in final over thriller.
ROUND ONE FIXTURE
One-day matches, Saturday, October 6
12.30pm start.
BUCC v White Hills
Bendigo v Sandhurst
Eaglehawk v Strathdale
Kangaroo Flat v Strathfieldsaye
Huntly-North Epsom v Golden Square