With the smell of freshly cut grass, the sun beaming more frequently and some old faces you may not have seen since September - it can only mean one thing … that's right, grab your jock-strap, the cricket season is upon us! A quick preview of the NCU senior clubs and what may be expected in 2008 season.

Last year's champions North Down have had a fair bit of press in the off season. Losing three of their 1st XI team to the North West, well if you call Ballymena the North West it is all three. Marty Dalzell and Neil Russell signed for Glendermott and David Kennedy back to his home town at Ballymena. In the other column they have brought in Luke Parsons and Andrew Sutherland. Sutherland hit 93 Vs CSN in early April and with Taimur Khan still as their pro, the signs are that North Down will be ok with the exodus.

With Kyle McCallan, Gary Kidd and James Hall all in the recent Ireland squad, you could be excused to think Warringstown could be favourites for the league this season. They also have Ijaz Ahmed back in the team and he can make the difference if required.

Instonians will be hoping to build on last season and push the “big two” and close the 12 point gap from last season. Without Regan West this will be hard, but Inst have some good players still and a good start is what they are looking for at home to Cliftonville.

Carrickfergus have signed up Colin Birch as their professional. Ryan Eagleson will continue to captain the side and have also improved their squad with Ryan Ervine, brother or Zimbabwean international Sean and Jamaican fast bowler Omal Elliott from Holywood.

2004 champions Bangor host North Down in an opening day derby game. Mark Hutchinson will be looking to score heavily and get back into the Ireland frame where he should be. Bangor young team last year proved many people wrong by finishing 5th and with the experience from last season the young squad, with the services of Yasas Tillakaratne, who is to say they will not finish higher?

Lisburn, who last won the league in 1993, may have been disappointed with last season. They have employed the services of Gerry Strydom to help their squad get up the league.

Stormont based CSNICC will be looking forward to the 2008 season. They may be dubbed CSNZ but they will not be worried if the kiwis can push them into the top 3 this season. Skipper Nigel Jones has Ewen Thompson back and added Regan West, this added to the quality they have - surely they will be pushing for league or cup honours come the end of the season?

Derriaghy have lost a few of their South African players and Neil Gill, but Andy Kenny has added wicketkeeper Derrick McCann to their squad. McCann is a quality keeper and should be an asset to the club. They have a new pro, not a South African, Kaushik Aphale to help them in the league.

All the talk was about CIYMS and their cheque book. Rumours would have you believe that they were offering this, that and the other to him, yer man and that lad. Reality is Stephen Hughes has kept faith in the squad that got them to the Premier League, with the only addition being Paul McCrum from Laurelvale. Matt Dempsey is back as their overseas and with Johnny Hewitt and Derek Heasley they may cause a few upsets at 'fortress' Belmont.

Finally the 'will they wont they have a ground' saga with Cliftonville will not stop Brian Anderson pushing his team to stay in the Premier League. Paul Stirling got his deserved Ireland cap and is now in the Ireland squad. They have Bronwell Williams to help them stay in the league.

So who's going to win it? I don't know, but my opinion is you will do well to look past the champions North Down.

Current North Down Twenty20 champions Downpatrick will be looking to go straight back up in the first attempt, but this is not going to be easy in what people are calling the most open section 2 in years. James Cunningham will be looking at new overseas player, ex-Indian test fast bowler, David Johnson to make the batsmen 'smell the leather' and contribute to their return to the Premier League.

Lurgan have lost Paul Stafford to the North West league but have Niranjan Godbole to captain them. Just back from a tour in the Spanish sun, Lurgan will be looking to win their first game against Saintfield and push on from there.

Last year's surprise team in section two, Holywood have a few changes. Philip McCormick as captain and they have employed aggressive batsman Jeremy Roscoe as their overseas player. Just like last season Holywood have not been mentioned in promotion talk, but with finishing joint 3rd last season they are looking to do the same. With consistent run scorer Seamus Sharkey, the tight bowling of Michael Shannon and David Kennedy to lead the attack - added to the new kiwi brothers the squad looks better - who knows?

Woodvale will always be challenging and maybe should be back in the top league already, but by losing silly games they must try again in 2008. They have added David Connolly to their talented squad, and again, they should be challenging.

Last year Ballymena looked very useful after a slow start to the season. They had a good team and have only gone and improved it with David Kennedy returning from Comber and the addition of explosive overseas player Steve Lazars from Armagh. James Kennedy will captain and they must be contenders for promotion.

Charlie McCrum carries on at Laurelvale and welcomes the return of RR Pande after missing last season. Wayne Pearson is supposed to be in Australia, but don't be surprised if you see his name come up. Bruce Topping will be encouraged to play as often as he can, to help fill the void left with Paul McCrum having, surely one last crack in the top league.

Is the legend still going at Armagh? Time will tell if Andrew Bratten can get Reggie Stinson out to bowl 10 overs each game. They have PT Shahane to help then as the overseas player, a young team that will want some early wins to gain some confidence.

Last season, Muckamore must have been disapointed with their finish.  They have strenthened with Neil Gill coming back from Derriaghy and the addition of 'Kammy' Kamtekar as their overseas player.  Add this to the quality they have, they too can be challenging for promotion back to the Premier league.

After six seasons Saintfield are back in section two. Richard Owens will be hoping that Noel David can continue his good form into the higher league. With a few young talents coming through, they are a good team that again will hope for a few wins early to settle them.

Dundrum are obviously a developing club and Rodney Hassard has been instrumental in the off season with getting the club ready for 2008. They may tell you themselves that they are the favourites to get relegated, but I have a feeling that deep down the trust that at their fortress at the Meadow, they will win enough to give them a chance to stay up. They have added an overseas player in BMPD Fernando to help.

It's anyone's guess as to who will win it, but I'll go with Downpatrick.

You could argue that anything outside the top two leagues and there is not as much interest, but we should have a look.

Last year's two relegated clubs Cooke Collegians and Dunmurry could be seen as the early favourites to go up, but as Larne proved last season, it's not that simple. Templepatrick are a forward thinking club and have some really good young players like Robert Smith and Artie Campbell has top coach Andy McCrea in the fold too. I would suggest if they can get a bit of early form and the younger lads step up to the mark - they could get promoted.

Academy has some of the same faces playing again and have added Davy Menaul to their squad. Rumour each season would have you believe that they liked section three and 3rd is as high as they want to go. Maybe now they are looking to get higher. I would say the top two teams will come from these 5.

Donacloney, Dungannon and Millpark, I am sorry to say I don't know much about and would guess that their aim is to stay in the section, however Millpark have lost Dave Cheater to Warringstown. Promoted from section 4 is BISC who will be hoping they can win enough to stay in the section. Cregagh may well think they have a chance in pushing for promotion. They have kept the experienced Javed and added a new South African in Richard Jarvis. They also have signed a few local players and signs are they could well be the surprise team.

I'll have a tip for Templepatrick to win the league.

Portadown will be looking to win the league and get back into section three in one go. Drumaness have lost Darren Oldroyd to Dundrum and along with Ards and Donaghadee will be serious about getting into the bigger league in section three. Clogher enjoyed their first season in NCU cricket and will be looking for more of the same in 2008. Victoria with their professional and 'legendary fast bowler' Gerald Johnston could be a dark horse. lastly the PSNI, in the top league in 1995, will be hoping for more than the 2 wins that they recorded last season.

'Ards to win the league.