An exciting season of Manx Cricket starts on Saturday with the opening games in the Isle of Man Premiership.
The format is the same as last season with a maximum of 40 overs per side.
The winning team takes 20 points and there are also bonus points available for the losing team.
One batting point will be awarded for reaching totals of 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 runs.
One bowling point is earned for each two wickets taken.
In the event of a tie, five points go to each team, plus their bonus points.
In the event of a game being rained off, five points are awarded to both sides.
In 2014 the Manx Premier League was a big success and is now to be played on five Saturdays spread throughout the season.
There are changes in the evening T20 leagues with the Cain catering for the B teams of clubs and the Forrester for their third XIs.
The Tinker and Blincoe Cups will continue as will the popular six-a-side competitions.
There are no ICC Europe tournaments (they are now every two years), but the island will be making a tour to Ireland.
There are plans for junior divisions at under-9, u11 (both kwik cricket and hardball), u13 and u15 levels.
A squad will again go to the Bromsgrove International Junior Festival.
So the scene is set, the players are ready and the Premiership begins on Saturday with three key matches.
The big question is whether Peel & St John’s can hold off the challenge of Cronkbourne and retain their title.
The western club open their campaign with a tricky home fixture against Castletown.
The Saints have boosted their bowling by signing Kieran Cawte from Crosby. Regarded as an excellent prospect, he took 27 wickets last season and joins a strong attack.
Dan Hawke takes over as captain and expectations are high among Saints’ supporters.
The side should contain too much power against a Castletown team who are missing the iconic Wicus Wessels who has emigrated to Australia.
His place behind the stumps will be taken by George Burrows, but Wicus was also a prolific batsman. There are doubts about the availability of Gareth Morris, so Town could have problems scoring enough runs.
Much will depend on their skipper all-rounder Mark Williams who has the support of Richard Jackson who took 60 wickets last season and hit 479 runs.
Garreth Roome claimed 25 victims and will be looking for more this year. Castletown face a severe test against the Saints and the outcome could define their season.
Cronkbourne suffered in the first part of 2014 from bad luck with the weather and the absence of top players at university. Steve Slack leads out a team which finished their campaign on a high note by winning the Tinker Cup.
Much will ride on the form of Max Stokoe who can dominate with both bat and ball. There are plenty of other island players in the squad, such as Luke Lacey, Alex Stokoe and top keeper Adam Killey.
They should get away to a good start when they meet Valkyres, their Tromode rivals. It is not going to be a walkover as Valkyres can be a difficult team to beat. They finished fourth in the table and can pull off some shock victories.
Skipper Ryan Wyndell has lost Auri Ghausi who has left the island for London, but Arun Mahalingam joins the club from Cronkbourne. Hopes could be boosted by the batting of Tom Reader and the bowling of Zubair Siddiqi.
Crosby are at home to Ramsey, a club going through a re-building stage. For their opening games they are missing stalwarts Shaun Kelly and Tom Howard. This will give the edge to the Marown XI.
Crosby are just back from a successful pre-season tour of Spain where they played two games against Sporting Alfas Cricket Club of Benidorm. They lost the first match by 37 runs, but won the second by 81 runs. Highlights were 106 from Ricky Kniveton, 50s from Jack Rowlands and Harry Rothwell, plus a five-wicket haul for Joe Rothwell.
Expect Union Mills to make a strong bid to win the T20 Cain League. Opponents will be wary of Chris Nash who smashed 583 runs for the side last year.
Finch Hill may make a strong bid to thwart the Millers. Their youth academy players will be to the fore, but Sam Riordan could be missing for most of the season - that would be a big blow.
Most clubs have been practicing at the nets since January while the island squads trained all through the winter. Everything is ready for a thrilling season. All we need now is for the weather to behave!
CRICKET RESULTS
Tour Match
SACC (Benidorm) 247 for 6 (Dave Picken 2 -45); Crosby 210 (Ricky Kniveton 106). SACC won by 37 runs.
Crosby 229 for 8 (Jack Rowlands 74, Harry Rothwell 63); SACC 148 for 9 (Joe Rothwell 5 -25). Crosby won by 81 runs.
CRICKET FIXTURES DIARY
Saturday, May 2
Isle of Man Premiership (1pm)
Nedbank Private Wealth Crosby v Ramsey
Shimmin Wilson Peel and St John’s v Newfield Castletown
Baker Tilly IoM Cronkbourne v Conister Bank Valkyres
---------
Monday, May 4
Forrester League (6.30pm)
Shimmin Wilson Peel and St John’s C v Ramsey C
Baker Tilly IoM Cronkbourne Bacchas v Colas Finch Hill B
---------
Wednesday, May 6
Cain League (6.30pm)
Nedbank Private Wealth Crosby B v Paddy Power Union Mills A
Newfield Castletown B v Colas Finch Hill A
Ramsey B v Shimmin Wilson Peel and St John’s B
Baker Tilly IoM Cronkbourne B v Conister Bank Valkyres B