All the team for the opening round of the Ballarat Cricket Association First XI season.

It will be a different looking season with North Ballarat not fielding a First XI side as well as the return of two-day matches.

All clubs head into Saturday's action full of confidence, believing that they have what it takes to replicate Golden Point's success in the 2021-22 season.

All games start at 11am on Saturday.

All the team for the opening round of the Ballarat Cricket Association First XI season.

Darley heads into this season as one of the favourites for the premiership after falling agonisingly close last season.

The Lions know their squad is one of the best in the league, with the addition of Danza Hyatt only furthering that claim.

Darley goes head-to-head with East Ballarat, which is expected to once again challenge for the top four this season after just missing out on finals last season.

Both sides are no strangers to red-hot starts, but Darley should come out on top.

Darley: Ben Longhurst(c), Bradley Barnes, Dilan Chandima, Madushanka Ekanayaka, Rockey Hoey, Drew Locke, Jake Oorloff, Andrew Pickett, Brodie Ward, Mitchell Ward, Hasitha Wickramasinghe

East Ballarat: Jacob Eyers(c), Lewis Hodgins, Rory Low, Harry Ganley, Luke Hodgson, Chris Jerram, Jai McHenry, Joshua Brown, Mitchell Nicholson, Abhilasha Rodrigo, Adam Eddy

Naps-Sebas skyrocketed into finals contention last season, maximising its underdog momentum to finish third, but the rising club can no longer fly under the radar this season.

Whether the new mindset, which comes with new pressure, for Naps-Sebas will provide a positive or negative effect on its results remains to be seen, but Ballarat-Redan will be looking to take a leaf out of Naps-Sebas' book from last season.

The Two Swords will be a club to watch this season, but Naps-Sebas will start 1-0.

Ballarat-Redan: Zac Jenkins(c), Robert Hind, Jayden Hayes, Matthew Aikman, Ryan Aikman, Nathan Patrikeos, Riley Fisher, Trent Moss, Max Riding, Jack Harwood, Matthew Sandford

Napoleons-Sebastopol: Daniel Scott(c), Luke Corden, Sajith Dissanayaka, Nathan Doonan, Jonah Healey, Corey Hucker, Dylan Price, Viraj Pushpakumara, Dylan Sexton, Janath Tissera, Dylan York

Golden Point is the reigning premier for a reason, but its fourth-place finish at the end of the home-and-away season encapsulates just how tight the competition is.

The Pointies enter the 2022-23 season with both a new captain and coach who are eager to make it back-to-back premierships.

Golden Point matches up against Buninyong, which saw some key players depart the club over the off-season.

A challenging season awaits the Bunnies, while the Pointies pick up where they left off.

Golden Point: Joshua White(c), Jack Bambury, Manjula De Zoysa, Andrew Falkner, James Lewis, Daniel McDonald, Simon Ogilvie, Alonzo Soloman, Andrew Warrick, Daniel White, Leo Turnbull-Gent

Buninyong: Harrison Bond(c), Brad Byrnes, Rory Fisher, Ethan Giri, Toby Hoy, Geordie McLeod, Campbell Palmer, Mitchell Tierney

Wins were hard to come by for these two sides last season, with a combined total of four wins seeing them finish in ninth and 10th place.

The Mounties 2021-22 campaign looks like an outlier compared to their strong finals runs prior, but they will need to prove it was in fact an outlier by finding form again this season.

Should the rain stay away, one of these sides will start its season on the winner's list, with the Mounties heading in as the stronger squad.

Mount Clear: Jarrod Burns(c), Ashley George, Matt Goonan, Zack Maple, Lachlan Payne, Jack Jeffrey, Joel Moriarty, Jacob Smith, Grant Trevenen, Nathan Yates

Brown Hill Tom Bourke-Finn(c), Kento Dobell, Shashi Fernando, Fraser Hunt, Jason Knowles, Ryan Knowles, Akila Lakshan, Nathan Porter, Prabath Priyankara

Other grades will begin next weekend.

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