The Lawrence Lions have left the competition, citing travel as a factor in their decision to join the town competition under the banner of North East Valley.
This opened up a spot for another side that was snapped up by Milton, which returns to the competition for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Milton has only committed to the T20 competition with hopes of carrying into the longer format after Christmas.
Defending 40-over champions Kai Kings are back and will be looking to do the double this year after not featuring in the final of the T20 last season.
The Kings have retained their full roster and have plenty of strong all-rounders.
Top-order batsmen Blair Benington and William Casey will be required to score copious amounts of runs again this season. Captain Mark Shepherd, veteran Jason Young and opening bowler Kobe Thomson will be relied on to take wickets.
T20 champions Owaka Bandits will be looking to go back-to-back in the shorter format.
The Bandits boast a competitive top order, with Otago Country representative Jeremy Gray a player to watch out for again this season.
Joel White and skipper Gordon Edwards have been in tidy pre-season form, while all-rounders Quentin Gare, Francis Parker and Reece Pullar will be called upon to provide support.
The Waihola Swans finished second in the 40-over competition last season but failed to win a game in the T20 format for the second consecutive season.
Captain Dylan Bungard and experienced all-rounder Kellan Crowie and Brad Williams will be key for the Swans. Taylor Moeahu, Jared Cunningham and Craig Gordon are others to keep an eye on.
The Valley Stingers, beaten T20 finalists and 40-over semifinalists last season, welcome all-rounder Ash Sharma to join old heads Lachie Johnston, Morgan Culbertson and Marc Phillips.
The Clutha Comets failed to make yet another final last season but welcome back Caleb Carson, who has scored more than 150 runs in his two pre-season matches so far.
The Milton King Crabs have named a strong team in their first season back. All-rounder Braden Adams will captain a side that boasts ex-South Otago batsmen Simon Scott and Dylan Mathieson.
Dylan Greer has also scored plenty of runs at club level, while former captain and genuine wicket-taker Kent Nurse will thrive with the new ball in his hand.
- Francis Parker
