Title Race Looks Wide Open

Division A begins in earnest tomorrow and it is difficult to see beyond four teams in the race for the Premier League.

Slight favourites are possibly Plumtree, who were runners-up and Popkess Cup winners in 2010.

Former Notts CCC batsman Matt Wood will be their coach and professional and he hit the ground running with a century and a fifty in pre-season.

All-rounder Nigel Finney, who missed most of last season with a thumb injury, is available, while Bobby Gamble and Hassan Azad will continue their senior cricket development, academy commitments excepted.

Add consistent performers such as Ben Thompson, Steve James and Scott Bailey to the mix and there is no reason why Plumtree can't go one better this season.

Radcliffe-on-Trent, under the new leadership of Rob Sutton, have kept the vast majority of the squad together and have added Kiwi opening batsman Josh Brodie.

The likes of Sutton, Ed Torr, Richard Brooks, Dan Mason, Michael Bratt and Chris Holden will all be key players and look out for emerging talent Ieaun Marks-Venables.

After two seasons in the Premier, Attenborough rejoin the league with a stronger squad. Jason Tibbitts, a wicket-keeper batsman, arrives from Brisbane, as does Kiwi bowling all rounder Chris Sheehy. Alec McKinlay, Martin Rayner and Tom Murray will also play key roles. But Dominic Harvey, after a year in the Academy, has joined Clifton Village.

Hucknall Rolls did extremely well to finish third in their debut season. They were dealt a blow in pre-season when professional Usman Salahuddin was called into the Pakistan squad to tour the West Indies.

Nevertheless, they are confident of 25-year-old opening bowler Rizwan Haider arriving before the first game.

Saleem Karim did a good job as skipper last season and he, together with brothers, Rahim and Wasim, should feature prominently along with Jason Gorman. Squad player Andy Carden has joined local rivals Hucknall.

Balderton have done well in the last couple of seasons on limited resources and a top-half finish should be well within their capabilities.

They welcome back West Indian bowler Marlon Franklyn, who had an explosive first half in 2010. He will backed up in the bowling department by Ian Sellars and David Lynn (fitness permitting) while Tim Clipsham, Chris Dobbie, skipper
Allan Jackson and David Makey should score decent runs.

Southwell begin an era under new skipper Tim Green after five successful seasons under Dave Rimmer.

Arriving from Pineland CC in Cape Town is all rounder James Johnston, while 17-year-old batsman Freddie Sail joins from Thurgarton.

Steve Wright will be the key bowler and they will also be looking for Matt Davis to perform consistently. Ali Haynes and George Bowie are out injured, but the club have high hopes for Grant McCarthy.

After a poor start to 2010, Hyson Green Caribs hit some form and any club with Andrew Jackman at the helm will be competitive. Opening bowler Usman Alam, 16, will be one to watch.

Zak Hussain and Nishan Mohathota will be relied upon for runs, while Ikram Ul Haq and Kaisar Altaf will add variety with the ball.

The arrival of Hucknall will add interest in the north of the county with new skipper Robin Maxwell taking over from Scott Harris.

Their professional will be opening bowler Josh Buckley from Eastwood, who has experience at second-team level with Middlesex.

Richard Cross, an opening bat, joins from the Lincolnshire Premier and will add stability to a top order that has been known to crumble.

On paper, Hucknall have an explosive bowling attack with Buckley, Alex Whyley, Maxwell and Max Thompson to call upon.

Survival will be the name of the game for Ellerslie, who will begin with no overseas player. Clearly they will be hoping that the new-ball partnership of Tariq Mahmood and Jurgen Charlesworth will repeat their feats of 2010. Look out for bright prospects Peter Vladev and Manish Misthra.

Unfortunately, one team that may struggle are Notts Unity Casuals, who have been a victim of their own success in many ways with the big sides cherry-picking their best talent.

Ben Savage (Wollaton), Husnain Riaz (Papplewick), Kafeel Shaffique (Caythorpe), and Gurpej Landa (Belvoir) have all departed for the Premier League, while Samrat Sharma has not been asked to return.

Wasim Rana and former skipper Usman Mussafer have also left, so it will be a young, inexperienced side that takes the field, bolstered by overseas player Ravinderpal Singh and Simon Neal, who has been a prolific run scorer for the club for two decades.