KEY POINTS:
New names for the major competitions, the usual shuffle of players between clubs, and a season in which the big names will again be absent for many matches mark today's start of Auckland club cricket.
First up, the 12 premier teams will turn out on artificial wickets for the quickfire Twenty20 competition with double round robin action at Cornwall Park and the Papatoetoe Recreation ground.
They will play another two rounds a week later with the fifth round, followed by the finals, scheduled for the Monday of Labour weekend.
Waitakere City, again coached by Randall Todd and with Blayne Fraser to lead the team, will defend their Twenty20 title and then look to carry that form into the limited overs championship which starts on October 20.
That competition, which has round robin matches on various days through to December 9 with the final to be played on February 17, has been renamed the Crowe Cup in recognition of Jeff Crowe's contribution to Auckland cricket. In particular his role in twice leading the team to victory in the national limited overs championship in the late 1980s.
Howick Pakuranga are defending that title after beating Waitakere in last year's final.
The two-day championship will begin on November 3. The competition again split into two sections of six for five round robin matches before, in late January, splitting to a top six-bottom six playoff. The championship ends on March 29.
Perennial winners Cornwall, again coached by Auckland selector Rex Smith, will be intent on their quest to be the first winners of the Howarth Trophy - named after stalwart Hedley Howarth who remains the leading wicket-taker for Auckland at first-class level.
Matt Horne's switch from Grafton United to Papatoetoe is the most significant of the player movements, although there will be some interest in Aaron Barnes' return at Cornwall and John Vujnovich's decision to come back from retirement to play for Suburbs New Lynn.
Missing from last season are Derek de Boorder (Howick Pakuranga) to Otago, Mayu Pasupati and Carl Cachopa (Takapuna) overseas, and Tim Lythe (Suburbs New Lynn) to Central Districts.
The women also start their season today with the first two rounds of their Twenty20 championships at Melville Park.
They will then play nine rounds of their limited overs Prichard Cup until December 1, before another two rounds of the Twenty20 on December 15. Further rounds and the final are scheduled for February.
