RARELY has the anticipation of a new cricket season been so high in the Darlington Building Society North Yorkshire and South Durham Premier League.

For the first time since the second professionals rule was introduced four years ago, every top flight club has registered their maximum allocation, and while some will have to wait a little longer for their overseas players to arrive as they wrestle with the complexities of the Home Office’s new managed migration system, there has been a significant influx of players with first-class pedigree.

The annual guessing game as to where the honours are likely to go has been going on for some time, but few crystal ball gazers can see beyond champions Middlesbrough making it a hat-trick of title successes.

It is difficult to assess just where the challenge to the champions will come from given their impressive array of new players, but Guisborough will be intent on trying to restore former glories after recovering from a poor 2007 to finish runners-up last term.

While they have lost Chris Allinson and Josh Carroll to Marske, the arrival of Tariq Aziz should guarantee runs for new skipper Stuart Mackay.

Other than Boro, Great Ayton were the most successful side in 2008, picking up two of the four major trophies on offer, as well as finishing fourth in the table.

And they did so despite playing a quarter of the campaign without Pakistan test player Riaz Afridi. The fact he is here from the start this time is a massive boost to their hopes of another dramatic season.

Their squad is bolstered by the arrival of Michael Croft (Marton) and Neal Pearson (Normanby Hall) – two players with premier division experience.

There were a few nervous twitches from Hartlepool before they eventually finished just one place above relegated Redcar last time. But they appear to have recruited well over the winter.

Blackhall are potential dark horses if they get their full team in the field often enough. South African Warren Swan is back after a classy debut year and Neil Killeen is sure to terrorise NYSD line-ups on the occasions he is not required by Durham.

Twenty-five test match appearances are impressive credentials and there is little doubt that if Normanby Hall get a good proportion of matches out of New Zealander Paul Wiseman they will cause their opponents problems.

However, Durham will retain first call on the ultra competitive Kiwi off-spinner who has just been signed following Sri Lankan Sachith Pathirana dislocating his shoulder last week.

With the famous name of Botham gone, an equally famous name (in Northallerton at least) Jon Barnes, takes over the captaincy reins at Town. His aim for 2009 is simple: “We hope to field a more settled side having encountered incredible difficulties with player availability last year.”

His hopes are bolstered by the return to the club of Rashmi ‘Teddy’ Parida. The popular Indian is approaching 100 firstclass appearances in his home country and boasts an impressive batting average of 45 at that level. In his previous two seasons at Town (2006-7) he topped the 1,000-run mark on each occasion.

But it’s not all good news with stalwart Jon Sample and Mark Cowell joining Easington, and Jamie Harrison impressing the Durham hierarchy. Nevertheless, a determined Barnes has his sights firmly set on a remarkable personal Town league double of 1,000 wickets and 10,000 runs – he needs 82 and 534 respectively to join an exclusive band of players at any level to have achieved this feat.

Andrew Fleming is another fledgling captain – and possibly the youngest in the top flight.

He will lead Richmondshire’s assault on honours and looks to have a strong team at his disposal.

Shani Dissanayake is back once more – the Sri Lankan is one of the best pros on the circuit and is joined by a relatively unknown quantity in ex-Leicestershire second teamer Ziafat Ashraf, who hails from Bradford League club Great Horton.

Former White Rose captain Matthew Brown returns to the league from the NEPL and with an excellent batch of youngsters already in situ the Dalesmen look set to ruffle a few feathers.

Elsewhere around the circuit, Marske have brought in former Durham second-teamer Neil Pratt, England Under-19 and Yorkshire Academy player Chris Allinson, and Josh Carroll from Guisborough.

Both Billingham and Bishop Auckland have retained their professionals for the new campaign, while Marton have added the Yorkshire-contracted Lee Hodgson to their line-up – county commitments permitting.

They also welcome Jonny Spillane from Middlesbrough.

Another Yorkshire player, Simon Guy, should figure strongly for Darlington after overcoming a health scare earlier this year, and Doug Mulholland has received due recognition from the club for a magnificent 2008 by being allocated the second professional’s berth – or maybe he talked himself into the job.

Last year’s Norton skipper, left-arm spinner Peter Armstrong, is the key newcomer to Feethams.

Newly-promoted Thornaby are in the process of tying up the last pieces of paperwork to bring experienced Pakistani Khurram Shehzad to Mandale Bottoms. 27-year-old Shehzad, who hails from Faisalabad, is a right-handed bat, and in his 40 first-class games boasts an average of around 40.

Leigh Beaumont, the new English pro, earns reward for his wicket-taking exploits that lifted the club out of Division One.

The promotion race in Division One is likely to be more closely-contested than for a number of years with Redcar, Saltburn, Stokesley, Seaton Carew and Barnard Castle likely to be the teams battling it out for a crack at the big time.