Any more or any less could have made scheduling difficult, but the even number of squads works out nicely.

Last summer's BOIDC competition featured the same amount of squads, with Kinross' departure and ORC's entry the only adjustment this time around.

October 9 would Frecklington's ideal start date, but he understands commencement won't be possible until a state-wide 80 per cent double vaccination rate is reached.

"We're waiting to hear from the government but realistically, we'll probably be waiting until late October or early November," he said.

"We're just excited to play cricket and we'll do that in any time frame that we've got."

There's no plan for the competition to play make-up games or jam fixtures in for lost time. Every week lost will mean one less round for teams, which Frecklington is perfectly fine with, as long as they can play a finals series.

"We'll make do with what we've got this year," he said.

"It was obviously hard the year before last because it wiped out our post-season."

READ MORE: ORC adds new names ahead of their return to the BOIDC

READ MORE: Hope hands over Sydney University second grade captaincy role

READ MORE: Trevor-Jones skippers Papplewick and Linby to thrilling 10-run victory

While there's 10 sides in the BOIDC competition, a dozen outfits will return for the T20 Royal Hotel Cup, with Lithgow and Kinross the newcomers.

Rugby Union shapes as one of the favourites to take out the short-form title after they put together a cracking campaign in 2020-21.

As for the BOIDC, Frecklington says the top four from last season will be hard to frazzle, but isn't overlooking the sides jockeying for finals spots.

"I think those top sides will be in the mix again... it'll be hard to knock them off," he said.

"Oberon has talked about having a reasonable side this year, and it doesn't too much to go from being in the mix to up there and contending.

"St Pat's will add Nic Broes and that will make them even harder to beat than they were last year."

The likes of St Pat's, premiers Orange City, Cavaliers, and Rugby Union were all at the point end of the table, with squads like City Colts and Bathurst City biting at their heels.

Centennials, CYMS and Centrals will all want to have better campaigns, while ORC will be keen to make a statement in its return to the competition.

As for the format, there will be a very similar balance of one and two-day cricket.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: