RINGWOOD District Cricket Association’s Bill Wilkins Cup competition begins this Saturday with teams fightning for promotion up to the Lindsay Trollope Shield.
Wonga Park will enter the season keen to make the move straight back to the top flight being relegated last season and to lead the charge they have signed former Ringwood Premier Cricket player Ryan Wilson to captain-coach the club.
After spending his Premier Cricket career as a bowler, Wonga officials believe he will play as an all-rounder at Wilkins Cup level.
Croydon Ranges is another club keen on a successful season in the Wilkins Cup.
The Ranges have seen a number of players depart during the off-season including Eamon Costello (relocated), Vernon Abraham (relocated), Shane DeSilva (not playing), Finney George (departed) and several others.
But they have a new coach in Bill Stafford and have enjoyed a good preseason and still believe they can challenge for promotion.
Montrose expect to field a side with a mix of youth and experience this season under the leadership of new player Daniel Carratelli.
The Wolves have also signed Rohan Stewart, Jayden Battaglene and Ashley Wellington and believe they are good enough for a top-four position.
St Andrews have added several recruits heading into the season with Mark Frazer (Queensland), Danny Mather (UK), Callum McKenzie (UK), Tim Moran (returning), Steve Howard (Croydon Ranges) and David Payne (East Keilor— joining the side.
St Andrews will be led by captain Dwayne Paisley and director of coaching Joel Grumont and are determined to push into the top-four with their young players mixing with the new recruits.
Eastfield have a new coach this season in Chris Bateman while Darren van Koll will again lead the side.
Eastfield want to again push towards the top-four although it has lost Rohan Stewart to Montrose and Aaron Fernado.
The Weekly contacted all other clubs in the Wilkins Cup to be part of our preview but did not receive a reply.
The RDCA season starts on Saturday.