The first round of domestic cricket contracts have been announced with a few movers and groovers to digest, most of which revolves around Otago. The Volts don't have a proper coach right after Aussie Ashley Noffke came and went after one season in charge, with Gary Stead sliding into an interim coaching role to help set up the season for Otago.

Noffke has opted for the impeccable job security of a coaching role with Pakistan, lasting just as long as Leo Carter did in an Otago jersey. Carter returns to Canterbury after one season in the deep south which is part of a theme for the Otago departures as Dean Foxcroft returns to Central Districts where he got his first taste of domestic cricket and even though he made his debuts for Otago, Dale Phillips returns home with Auckland.

Carter adds a veteran batter to Canterbury's squad and all the youngsters rising through various pipelines who were part of the first contract wave will be covered in the next few days. Canterbury promoted local juniors Jesse Frew (wicket-keeper) and Scott Janett for their first contracts, both of whom are young batters so Carter will fit snug alongside seniors like Cole McConchie and Chad Bowes.

Foxcroft was already part of the CD Stags squad that is preparing for the Global Super League T20 tournament where they will represent Super Smash - the best T20 competition in the world. Foxcroft dipped away from his fringe Blackcaps status in recent seasons so he will be eager to follow up his mahi for NZ-A in Bangladesh with a strong season for CD, while Phillips was awesome across the formats for Otago last summer.

Phillips is likely to form an enticing batting combo with Bevon Jacobs in the Auckland line up, while Rohit Gulati is another mover who joins the Aces. Lefty spinner Gulati made his debuts for Northern Districts last summer but like Phillips, he has sneaky connections with Auckland that make this a logical move.

Gulati played for Weymouth in the Counties Manukau competition and that is part of the Northern Districts association. Weymouth and a few other clubs in Counties Manukau are suburbs of Auckland though so Gulati is staying local. He is also a nifty replacement for lefty spinner Louis Delport who has retired and with Tim Pringle likely to return to cricket for ND, Gulati has a better opportunity for all-format mahi with Auckland.

ND and Wellington have no additions from other teams, with the general lack of movement across all associations highlighting how effective the development pathways are in Aotearoa. Otago needed to fill some spots in their contract list though so Danru Ferns, Jack Boyle and Troy Johnson are making moves south.

Ferns has been Auckland's best all-format seamer in recent seasons and he will play an important role for Otago as a leader of their bowling unit alongside Matt Bacon and Andrew Hazeldine. It's a similar story for Jack Boyle and Troy Johnson who leave CD and Wellington respectively, with all three additions being 27yrs or older.

Otago made a point about highlighting hearty connections to the region for Boyle and Johnson in their contract list announcement, which along with the maturity of their additions offers a broad theme in how Otago wanted to move forward. Boyle and Johnson have the potential to command 1st 11 selection in all formats with Otago, after recent seasons in which they weren't quite at that level despite flashing their talent.

There is an exciting group of youngsters at Otago which will be part of the rising young talent break down coming this weekend. While they have lost two of their best players from the last few years, they have added mature cricketers who appear to have an appreciation for the region and should provide reliability around their emerging cricketers

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