The introduction of play-offs in the Hoofdklasse has changed the rules of engagement: the first task is to secure a place in the top four and, as Voorburg came close to proving last year, after that anything is possible.

So for Den Haag sides HCC and HBS, who finished in the bottom half of the table in 2007, the real measure of success is whether they are likely to be able to mount a challenge for a semi-final slot.

On the face of it, HCC are in much better shape to achieve that than HBS – but that would require a much more consistent effort than they were able to put together last season.

HCC were the enigma of 2007: after looking like potential champions in the opening month, they lost six on the trot in mid-season and even flirted with relegation for a moment before ending up in mid-table.

As the club with the Hoofdklasse’s proudest tradition, they will be determined to do better this time, and there is no doubt that they have a squad capable of reaching the play-offs.

Two years ago, brothers Johannes and Stephanus Myburgh shared the coaching duties at HCC, Stephanus taking over from his elder sibling in mid-season after the latter was injured playing a football kickaround.

Now they’re both back, Johannes – who has played for Canterbury in New Zealand over the winter – resuming as coach, while Stephanus, having begun studying at the Technical University of Delft, will play as a amateur and has hopes of qualifying for the Dutch squad.

Joining a side which will be led by ex-international Feiko Kloppenburg, still one of the most destructive batsmen in the Hoofdklasse, the Myburgh brothers will play a key role in a batting line-up which also includes current Dutch opener Tom de Grooth and 19-year-old youth international Bob Entrop.

The HCC squad is certainly not short of experience, with the national captain Jeroen Smits behind the stumps, and a spin attack consisting of veterans Jacob-Jan Esmeijer and Ed Sleijffers.

The seamers will include not only twins Mark and Maurits Jonkman (provided the former has recovered from a nagging injury in time for the start of the season), but two young exchange players, Australian Andrew Murphy, back for another season, and Tom Moore, along with South African-born Bernard Loots.

With a strong younger brigade including players like Thijs Fischer, Mels Hartman and Olivier Klaus, HCC have strength in depth, and it would be a great surprise if they were again to fade from the play-off challenge halfway through the season.

On the face of it, HBS will begin the campaign with more modest ambitions.

After finishing fifth in 2006, the club spent much of last season battling to stay clear of relegation, and avoiding that threat will certainly be at the forefront of their minds as this year’s competition begins.

But they do have several factors working in their favour: their new coach will be South Australia’s Shane Deitz, who topped the national averages last season with 654 runs at 54.50, hitting two centuries, and although international allrounder Billy Stelling has returned to his native South Africa, HBS have picked up an outstanding replacement in Mudassar Bukhari, formerly of VVV Amsterdam.

And then there is the club’s new artificial outfield, the only one in the Hoofdklasse, which may give HBS a greater home-ground advantage once they have got used to playing on it.

For the rest, it will largely be the mixture as before: Bukhari will slot into one of the most effective seam attacks in the competition, with Sjoerd Weurman, Rasool Abed, Juriaan Geleynse and Berend Westdijk backed up by the younger talents of Ferdi Vink and Ollie de Geus and the spin of Mustafa Faqiri.

It was, however, the batting that was the source of many problems last year, the side failing to make 150 on five occasions and seldom getting past the 200 which is mostly the least that is needed to be competitive.

Ex-international Robert van Oosterom, only intermittently available in recent years, has retired, but Reinout Scholte, Taco Risselada and 17-year-old batsman-wicketkeeper Tobias Visée remain.

Much will rest on the broad shoulders of Deitz, however, and if he can reproduce the form he displayed in the first half of last season, getting a decent measure of support from the rest of the batting, HBS could spring a few surprises against more fashionable sides.