ADRIAN Chad will be in charge of a new-look XI when Toronto begin their Newcastle District Cricket Association premiership defence on October 12.
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The Kookaburras are set to lose five players from their grand final winning team, but Chad remains confident the title holders can push for the semis once more in 2019-2020.
"We've got quite a few changes from our grand final team, but hopefully we can be there or thereabouts again," Chad said
Paceman Griffin Lea and wicketkeeper Jeremy Ford have linked with Sydney club Manly Warringah, all-rounder Ryan Fenning returns to the Central Coast while experienced campaigners Tim Cox and Aaron Gray have both retired.
Chad stays at Ron Hill Oval along with Brendan Charlton, Dylan Robertson, Corey Brown, Josh Westwood and Ben Roberts.
One addition will be seamer Andrew Somerville, who comes back to Toronto from Manly for the majority of the summer.
Elsewhere and Cardiff-Boolaroo will have a new captain in 2019-2020 with Nick Watkins not doing the role again.
Jed Dickson (Charlestown), Simon Moore (Merewether), James King (Wests), player of the year Nathan Price (Wallsend), Marcus Hainsworth (Belmont) and Nick Foster (Stockton) will continue in their respective leadership positions.
A draw has yet to be released for this season, but the starting date is seven days later than normal with no games scheduled for the October long weekend.
All four grades start on the same Saturday.
Firsts will have five one-day fixtures followed by eight, one less than usual, two-day encounters.
The mid-season break will go over December 28 and January 4. Semis are March 21 and 22 with finals the following weekend.
Meanwhile, the Newcastle representative squad will play a trial against Manly at Ron Hill Oval on September 21. The NSW Country Championships are to take place on the Central Coast (November 1-3) and Goulburn (November 8-10) following the T20 Regional Bash regular rounds during October.
