Now replete with a new name to accompany the brace of new rules unveiled in the competition last summer, the 2001-02 domestic one-day program in Australia looks poised to be as compelling as ever.

With six teams each approaching it from rather different starting points (and even a million dollar prize on offer), it is also likely to be one to fire the imagination.

New South Wales begins as the champion. Western Australia starts amid doubts from some commentators as to whether it can maintain the outstanding level of achievement that it has produced over recent years. Queensland and Victoria will be seeking to put the memory of disappointing seasons behind them, and South Australia and Tasmania strike the observer as teams on the rise.

At the outset of a season that will encompass a total of 31 games, in nine centres across the country, there's accordingly no obvious favourite. Instead, each of the six teams will carry high hopes of claiming the title when it is awarded in the last week of February.

As for that title itself, its change of name - from the Mercantile Mutual Cup to the ING Cup - now means that the sides will be participating under the seventh moniker used in the course of the competition's 33-year history.

The question of whether a new-look champion will be crowned, though, will remain a moot one for more than four months.

The hectic schedule of games in October means that New South Wales will benefit at the start of the season from the presence of a number of its international stars. Just as importantly, though, it has been the very absence of those players over recent years that has helped the Blues to build excellent depth and to fast-track the development of a number of youngsters. The reigning titleholder is also likely to be advantaged by playing its first three games at home.

These are not necessarily the best of times for Western Australia. Key personnel in dashing all-rounder Brendon Julian and captain Tom Moody have hung up their boots following long and distinguished careers. Coach Wayne Clark has also departed, his credentials having won him a job at Yorkshire and a central role in landing that county's first crown in first-class cricket for more than three decades. Several of its leading administrators have joined the recent exodus.

Yet there remains an enduring theme that points to another potentially rewarding season for both the Warriors and the Blues: namely, their general dominance throughout the history of this competition. In sharing 16 of those 32 past crowns between them, the two states have wielded a sense of authority over the competition that has made their appearance in finals akin to a formality.

In itself, that leaves a significant challenge ahead of the other four teams. For Queensland and Victoria, the task will be particularly complex in the wake of disappointing campaigns in 2000-01. Each struggled to produce big scores on a regular basis and can not afford to commit the same sin again.

For South Australia, the beginning to the season is likely to be conditioned by far more encouraging memories of last summer. There's an argument, in fact, to suggest that the Redbacks were as worthy of a place in the 2000-01 Final as any side. They have a well-balanced team in the limited-overs arena and one more than capable of adding to a total of only two previous titles. It's important to note that, if they had not finished on the wrong side of a highly controversial two-run defeat in Perth last season, they would have hosted the competition's deciding match.

Tasmania, despite an horrendous history in interstate limited-overs matches, was also a strong performer in 2000-01. While a narrow loss against Western Australia was also crucial in determining its eventual fate, it still entered the last weekend of the competition in line for a place in the Final. It has a bigger pool of all-rounders than any other team and, in an era when versatility seems to carry more weight than specialisation in one-day line-ups, can't be underestimated.

The vagaries of weather, injury, availability and form will ultimately come to scupper the ambitions of five of the teams.

But the winter months have provided the platform for meticulous planning and preparation. They have also fostered a hunger among administrators and players across the country as they have embarked on the exercise of charting their respective dreams of success.

Importantly, the most obvious legacy is that the spectre of a one-sided (or even two-sided) competition doesn't look likely to emerge this year.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd