Sunderland have a new captain and hope to announce in the next few days that they have signed another professional to help them retain the championship they won at a canter last season.

They had re-engaged Cameron Cuffy, who topped the averages with 54 wickets at 14.2 but his anticipated inclusion in the West Indian Test squad has forced them to look elsewhere.

Their search did not take them outside the Windward Islands and they are more than pleased to have snapped up the former West Indian Test player Franklin Rose.

"Obviously we would have liked Cameron to return but realistically it was sensible to cancel his contract and bring in a replacement. We are very happy that Franklin is coming,'' said Mike Smith. "Everything has been agreed verbally but we have had a few problems faxing his contract but it only needs his signature. With the other changes we have made we are confident that we will have a very good chance of keeping the title," added Smith.

Sunderland's new captain is the ex-South Shields and Hylton opener Simon Old. He takes over from Adam Applegarth who announced his retirement as skipper last September.

A major signing is Richard Hawthorne who starred with Bishop Auckland and Leadgate and was formerly on the MCC ground staff.

Ian Pattison is the Durham player allocated to Sunderland and other newcomers are Neil Young (Burnmoor), Mark Turner (Boldon) and Andrew Robson (Newcastle City).

Geoff Cook will again be in charge of Durham Academy who have brought in three talented youngsters in Stuart Walker, formerly with Hetton Lyons, Graeme Onions (Gateshead Fell) and David Barnes who has played his junior cricket in Cumbria.

Gary Pratt, Mark Davies and Nicky Peng are no longer available but even so Cook believes that the Academy can give Sunderland a good run for the title.

"It's all about preparing youngsters for the first-class game but obviously there is a competitive edge to it," said Cook.

Blaydon were something of a surprise last season, ending third after joining the Premier League from the Tyneside Senior League. They made just one signing in wicket keeper David Sherrington and it is very much as you were this season, except that the popular Nehemiah Perry returns as professional.

A blow to Blaydon's early-season chances is the unavailabilty because of football commitments of Mark Drake, Colin Campbell and Stephen Humble and Ray Marshall, too, could be tied up with Blaydon Rugby Club.

The League's leading runmaker, Dawnley Joseph is not returning to Stockton. He plundered 1,023 runs at an average of 73.1 and was the only player to reach four figures.

Instead, Stockton have gone for local lad Alan Walker, the former Durham County player. Andrew Bowman has moved in from Bishop Auckland, Australian Charles Burns is their overseas player, Graeme Bridge is the Durham contracted player and in addition Danny Lewis, who has played for Worcester II and James Davison (Sedgefield) have also joined.

But Ian Still is unavailable and both Richard Waite and Richard Thomas may not be available until they return home from University.

Norton had no hesitation in re-engaging all-rounder Stephen Ball who attained stardom as an attractive left-handed stroke player batting at number three for Philadelphia. He is also a more than useful right-arm medium pacer and he has accepted Norton's invitation to also captain the side.

Marc Symington is their Durham contracted player. He has just spent six months in Australia playing club cricket and Tim MacDonald, a 21-year old paceman from Western Australia has also joined Norton as has Darlington's Peter Frankland.

"We ended fifth last season 60 points adrift of champions Sunderland but we feel we are stronger this time and will do better," enthused chairman Keith Symington who reports that the club will be turning out four sides every Saturday as well as four junior teams and a midweek XI.

Not surprisingly, Ashley Thorpe resumes as professional with Chester-le-Street. He recorded 843 runs at 76.6 and marginally missed finishing top of the batting averages. In addition, he was fourth in the bowling awards with 32 at 16.4.

A big boost to the Cestrians is the availability of Quentin Hughes for a full season. The Cambridge player, who started out with Durham City, batted only six times but averaged 55.4. He will also coach the side.

Paceman Mark Davies has come in as the Durham contracted player and a couple of youngsters - Liam Simpson and Graham Race - have also moved to Ropery Lane but Ross McLaren is in Australia.

South African David Townsend is back with South Northumberland who have Adam Heather as captain. He reports that Howard Sidney-Wilmot has returned from Scotland, all-rounder Matthew Hall has signed up from Warkworth, Nick Tomlinson is home from Australia and Nicky Peng is the contracted player from Durham.

A big loss though, is the unavailability of Chris Hewison, who has a contract with Nottinghamshire.

Stewart Hutton, who scored 930 runs at an average of 58.1 with Marske last summer is Gateshead Fell's choice of professional. They too have been busy recruiting, bringing in all-rounder Philip Bell from Boldon, Owen Rankin, the Backworth batsman and Richard Kirkwall, a quick bowler from Western Australia.

Newcastle failed to win one of their 20 matches but look a great deal stronger with the acquisition of three quality players.

Scott Kay is rated one of the best batsmen in the North-East and regularly has taken opposition attacks apart during his time with Ashington. Durham's Gary Pratt has also joined the Jesmond-based club as has a former Durham player Stephen Lugsden.

"We really struggled in our first season in the Premier League when we had to operate without a professional but we are a much stronger unit and I am confident that with the experience we have brought in and our younger talent, we will do significantly better than last summer," said skipper Neil Wake.

Tynemouth were only marginally more successful than Newcastle and they have turned to all-rounder Jonathan Benn, with Percy Main last season, to resurrect their fortunes. Benwell Hill also have a new professional. They have gone for experience and signed Shahid Nazir who has played nine Tests and 17 one-day games for Pakistan.

"He should prove to be a great acquisition and add considerable penetration to our batting," claimed Phil Nicholson who will be skipper for the fifth year. In addition, they have re-signed one of their former players David Rutherford, who was professional with Morpeth last season, seamer Martin Pollard from Ashington and opening batsman Marcus Turner (Tynemouth).

Premier League chairman Alan McKenna was pleased with the progress made during the first season even though he concedes it was difficult for sides to come to grips with a format they had not been used to.

"Captains and players responded much more positively during the second half of the campaign but even so we have altered the rules slightly to make the game more interesting,'' he said. "There was a lot of good cricket played but what we need is fine weather, flat batting tracks and a positive outlook and I'm sure the league will go form strength to strength.

"I am pleased that from the 2002 season we will be up to our full complement of 12 clubs with the inclusion of Philadelphia and I'm confident that we will continue to build on our early success," said McKenna.