FOUR different champions in the last four seasons highlights the intensity of competition in the Darlington Building Society North Yorkshire and South Durham Premier Cricket League.

With the dawning of the new season this weekend, another enthralling contest is expected.

Middlesbrough are again at the top of most people's list of title favourites. Boro did the double last term and have the outstanding Chetnya Nanda back as overseas professional.

Nanda has enjoyed a successful winter at home in India, where he helped Delhi win the Ranji Trophy.

Alex Roberts is currently playing with Essex and at the moment the Acklam Park outfit have not engaged a professional replacement, but they have acquired the services of the current league player of the year, Paul Johnston, who has joined them from Hartlepool.

Northallerton stormed out of the blocks last time with ten straight victories, but then faded, only winning two of their remaining 16 games, to eventually finish as runners-up. New overseas recruit Shreyas Khanolkar will have to go some to emulate Rashmi Parida's feats, but he has just finished playing in the Indian Cricket League for Mumbai under the captaincy of Brian Lara, has a first class batting average of 31 and also bowls off-spin.

With no other new players in, Jerry Hall retiring and Doug Mulholland moving to pastures new, there would seem to be the usual dependence on the evergreen Jon Barnes, who will no doubt be charging up his batteries for another 500 overs.

Barnesy joined a very exclusive band of cricketers at any level when he broke through the career double barrier of 10,000 runs and 1,000 wickets during the course of last season.

Darlington still have some paperwork hurdles to cross before they can confirm their overseas player, but the ever-reliable Neil Pratt will continue to be a key performer. Doug Mulholland's move to the Quakers was somewhat of a surprise, but his irrepressible tendencies will no doubt enliven many an afternoon at Feethams - if not on the field, then certainly in the dressing room.

The youngsters did Richmondshire proud last season and they should be all the better for getting the miles on the clock. Clive Layfield will be in charge on the field, with the popular Sharni Dissanayake there to inspire with his own performances, as well as providing expert guidance to the young charges. Mark Lockey, who had a successful season with Barton in the DDCL last year, is the only new arrival, with Kevin Ashton missing through work commitments.

2006 champions Great Ayton nearly pulled off a remarkable second half of the season comeback last year, but eventually had to settle for a commendable third spot, their continuing success largely built on the back of the wicket-taking exploits of Riaz Afridi. The Pakistani took his league tally to 199 in just his second year, although he will not be able to claim his 200th this weekend as he misses the season opener.

With Chris Batchelor emerging as a very reliable performer, the club were quick to re-engage both and have a more or less stable squad, only Henry Blackett having moved on, with Ian West, who has topped Stokesley's bowling averages for the last three years, coming in.

One of the shocks last year was the form of Guisborough - with umpteen championships and cups already to their credit in the 21st century, they slumped alarmingly to second bottom in 2007. In an attempt to return to former glories, they have brought in New Zealander Greg Todd as their overseas player - he is on the verge of the Kiwis' Test team and boasts a first class batting average of 37, as well as bowling useful medium pace. Will McDougal also returns to the club from Saltburn.

Bishop Auckland welcome back two players - Richard Hawthorne returning from the USA and, slightly closer to home, Chris Sawyer from Shildon. Ricky Ponting's nemesis Gary Pratt takes on the mantle of senior pro and skipper, with Dan Conway retaining the second paid berth.

Marton enjoyed their firstever senior cup success last term, and with a fourth place finish in the league were able to reflect on an excellent season.

They go into the new campaign hoping to cement their newfound status, and have brought in Mohammed Zahid from Normanby and Zaheer Shabaaz from Crook as their new pros.

With Ben Hutchinson also joining them from Boro, where his opportunities were limited, they look to have a useful squad in place.

At one time last year, Normanby Hall looked odds-on for relegation, but then an upsurge in form, mainly due to Keith Martin's bowling exploits, witnessed them soar away from trouble. With Martin available for the full season and the acquisition of Sri Lankan Duminda Perera, they should avoid putting themselves through the mill this time around. Perera looks a class performer, having played more than 100 games at the highest level - a batting average of 30 allied to healthy fastmedium bowling makes him one to keep an eye on.

Hartlepool hope the proven abilities of Michael Gough and Thara Gunerathna will compensate for the blow of losing star amateur Paul Johnston, their only other change being the recruitment of Richard Lloyd from Hem Heath of the North Staffordshire League.

Blackhall looked to have pulled off a great signing in Shikra Dhawan, who created such a vivid impression at Etherley last season, but his subsequent decision to play in the Indian Premier League meant he would be unavailable until early June and the club had to look elsewhere. Enter Warren Smith, a South African with a first class average of 31 in the long form of the game and almost 50 in the limited overs stuff. Masood Mirza returns as the English professional.

Newly-promoted Billingham Synthonia have made their intentions clear with the signing of Nisal Randika, a Sri Lankan with a good first class pedigree.

With Craig Symington from Sunderland and Danny Nowell from Norton also signed, the Synners should be able to compensate for the possible loss of Martin Cull for part of the season.

Along the coast at Marske, New Zealander Rob Nicol returns and also takes over the captaincy. Negotiations are ongoing for an English pro, but Jack Hugill will be out for the season with a bad knee injury.

Neighbours Redcar acknowledge they could be in for a tough year, and have been particularly badly hit by Tim Hood's change of job, which will mean he is unavailable for a significant amount of games. But they have pulled together successfully in the past and have proven match-winner Tariq Aziz to fall back on.

In division one, it is hard to look beyond Thornaby or Seaton Carew for the title. Relegated Saltburn will be pulling out all the stops to try and bounce back at the first time of asking, but this is not an easy trick, as Darlington RA found out last year. Neither Saltburn or RA have added to their squads this season and, with the Seasiders having doubts about the availability of some of their key players, they will find the going tough unless they can get their best side in the field.

Match-winning bowlers tend to be the key at this level and the skills of Thornaby's Leigh Beaumont and Andrew Emmerson may hold sway, with Seaton possibly hampered by the quality of their own batting surface, although they do have the much-travelled Rhys Barker as a new weapon this term.

Yarm have added five players to a club that flirted with relegation, Stokesley will lean heavily on some excellent young players and have Andrew Weighell fit again after he missed much of last season, and Barnard Castle and Wolviston will prove doughty adversaries as usual.