The Duracell league: AA South

2012 will be a really interesting year for the AA South divisions, with another geographic split for teams both east and west of London(-ish).

The Essex Archers have dropped down to Single-A and the Latin Boys have been promoted to AAA, but otherwise it’s business as usual, with the Latin Club adding a second team, the Tigers, into the mix to replace them, and the Archers making way for the Southampton Mustangs II, who finished a strong second to the now AAA-bound Cambridge Royals in Single-A in 2011.

Western wonders

The Guildford Mavericks and Poole Piranhas were the big winners in their half of the division last time around, with the Thames Valley Bisons only falling short of a playoff berth on the final few weekends of the season.

All three will be carefully looking over their shoulders at the Mustangs II, who bring an added dimension to the league in 2012, and will fight against three London-based Clubs in the new Latin Tigers, Croydon Pirates III and Richmond Dragons to round-out the league.

With the two playoff teams from last year still in the division, it’s hard to see past a similar one-two-three as in 2011. But depending on the strength of other clubs’ recruitment and, in particular, whether the Richmond Club have been able to retain players from their now dormant NBL side to improve the lower ranks, there could yet be some very interesting and exciting match-ups.

The Eastern bloc

The introduction of the Daws Hill Spitfires and London Mammoths bring this half of the division up to seven in 2012.

Many of the Mammoths’ players were successful in Single-A over the last few years under the Marauders banner, while new recruits mean that the Club will be particularly competitive, although some designated home games will take place at the oppositions’ venues as there is only one diamond available at their Finsbury Park home. The London Club are now the only one in the country to field teams at all levels.

The Herts Hawks, Kent Mariners, Brentwood Stags, Essex Redbacks II and Sidewinders round out the division, which promises to be particularly competitive. With the Archers dropping out from last year and the Latin Boys moving up, it means that the Sidewinders would be the fancied team, having finished third in 2011. But anything can happen, and resurgent Mariners and Hawks teams, along with an expanded Redbacks II side, could mean that any of the magnificent seven could be jostling for a playoff berth as the season moves towards the business end.

That said, by mid-June we’ll probably have a better understanding of which Clubs will be there or thereabouts, and I would hedge my bets on the Sidewinders going the distance to challenge for the title.

There will be upsets in this division, and those upsets will likely have a massive impact on the playoff runs. Single-headers against teams from the opposite division will be interesting, as pitching depth becomes even more important in close games, while the double-headers will test squad strength across the clubs. But the best teams will be the ones that can keep going and going throughout the holiday season, into the dog days of August and to the championship deciders, having already put in the hard yards earlier in the summer.