The 2012 SCC League cricket season officially begins this coming Sunday at the Shanghai Football Rugby Club and Dulwich College.

The first weekend will feature matchups between the Division 1 DPR Hot Dogs and Pudong Power, Division 2 Digital Devils and Bashers CC taking on Leopards CC and Dynamite Devils respectively, and Division 3 Pudong 2 against the Dulwich Knights.

“This season we’ve increased the number of teams to 17 and the scheduled number of matches to 118,” said SCC President Oliver Austin. “The level of cricket is continuing to rise throughout the league and we look forward to another spectacular season.”

The 2012 SCC League will feature three divisions. Division 1 will include defending champion Daredevils CC, runners-up K2 CCC, DPR Hot Dogs, Bashers CC and Pudong Power.

“We fought long and hard for the Division 1 trophy,” said Daredevils president Jon Newton, in reference to the 2011 season. “As defending champions, we certainly don’t plan on handing it over any time soon.”

The teams will play 12 matches with the top seed progressing to the finals while the second and third ranked teams play off to determine who will face them.

Defending Division 2 champion Pudong Power will look to start their season off faster than they did last year when James Gooding’s team struggled out of the gate to a 1-4 start before righting the ship.

“We don’t anticipate any championship hangover from last season and are looking forward to putting our mark on the 2012 season from the very beginning,” said Gooding.

In addition to Pudong, Division 2 will feature 2011 runners-up Digital Devils, Leopards CC, DPR Hot Dogs, Bashers CC and the Dynamite Devils (née Devils Doosra). The teams will play two full five-match rounds each after which, the teams will be seeded 1 through 6 for two final single-match rounds. The top four teams on the ladder after 12 games will progress to the semi-finals with the top seed playing off against the 4th seed and the 2nd seed playing meeting the 3rd seed for a chance to progress to the finals.

Division 3 will see major changes this year with the addition of a sixth team and the restructuring of the playing format to Twenty20. Vying for the title this year will be defending champions Pudong (now named Pudong 1), runners-up Dulwich Knights, DPR Hot Dogs, Bashers CC, Daredevils CC (née Devils DUI), and a newly formed second Pudong team (Pudong 2).

With the weather finally warming and winter beginning a fast retreat, the sight of white-clad players on a field of green should spark excitement in the Shanghai cricketing community.

The Shanghai Cricket Club League runs from March through September. Matches are played Sundays at theShanghai Football Rugby Club and Dulwich College. For more information on watching or playing cricket in Shanghai, please contact the Shanghai Cricket Club.