Will Wollongong end its 55-year drought and finally break through and win a Cricket Illawarra one-day title?
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Can the Northern Districts Butchers replicate their fantastic 2022-23 season and again win both the one-day and T20 competitions?
And will new outfit Illawarra Passionate Cricket Club (IPCC) be competitive in its first season in Cricket Illawarra's first-grade competitions?
A clearer picture on all these questions and more will come to light on Saturday when the 2023-24 Cricket Illawarra season kicks off with the first round of the T20 competition.
IPCC's first ever first-grade game will be against Corrimal at Rex Jackson Oval in Helensburgh from 3.30pm.
But perhaps the pick of the games is between defending champions Butchers and the Wollongong team they downed in last season's one-day final.
Northern Districts captain Sam Hobson said having got the monkey off their backs so to speak, the Butchers were feeling relaxed heading into the season opener.
"We were pretty satisfied with last year. We are just going to go out there and enjoy our cricket," he said.
"We won both competitions last year so we're just trying to enjoy it this year.
"I expect us to sort of have a bit of a slower start to the season but slowly ease our way back into it."
The bulk of last season's side remains intact but the young Butchers side won't have the services of their English imports Archie Harrison and Jack Plom.
Nevertheless Hobbs is confident his team can do well and handle the extra pressure of team's wanting to beat the premiers.
"I'm sure we will have a target on our backs but that's okay," he said.
"We don't really feel much pressure or anything, we're just happy to keep going along and try and replicate what we did last year.
"Obviously we know that's not going to be easy."
Hobbs expects Keira and Wollongong to again be strong this season.
"I'm sure there will be other teams as well which will do well but as in previous seasons, we just have to wait and see in round one how teams line up," he said.
"We've got a tough one first up against Wollongong. They're always strong, I don't expect anything different this year."
Hobbs was also looking forward to seeing how IPCC perform in their first season in the top grade.
"It's a shame Helensburgh have pulled out but I'm glad IPCC is in and we have a 10-team competition," he said.
"I know that IPCC have definitely grown. I know they've got a lot of numbers.
"It will be interesting to see how competitive they are. I don't really know a lot about them or their players.
"It will be interesting to see how they go, especially early in the year."
Meantime, in other T20 matches on Saturday, Port Kembla play Dapto at King George V Oval, Balgownie hosts Keira at Judy Masters Oval and Wests Illawarra play University at Figtree Oval. All games start at 3.30pm.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
