No great surprises have occurred in the naming of players contracted to the six major associations for next summer.

However, Otago has suffered the loss of another its former Auckland players with fast bowler Kerry Walmsley opting to return to Auckland. A feature of the Auckland announcement is the return of Aaron Barnes. He had signalled his intention at the end of last season to remain in Wales but he has decided to make himself available for the new season.

Paul Hitchcock's return to Auckland had been forecast and the power base of the game is going to be further strengthened with Walmsley and Hitchcock adding depth to the bowling resources. Auckland will be without Richard Morgan who has retired and Bradley Nielsen who is unavailable.

In Canterbury, Robbie Frew was not offered a contract while Carl Anderson was unavailable due to overseas commitments.

Central Districts have firmed up their relationship with their promising young players, Jamie How, Jesse Ryder and Greg Todd by including them all on contracts while Greg Loveridge and Martyn Sigley have missed out.

The three new players to be offered contracts by Northern Districts are Gareth Irwin, Mark Orchard, and Grant Robinson. All three have graduated through Northen Districts' development programmes.

Missing from last year are Michael Parlane, who has opted to move to Wellington, David Kelly who is moving to Christchurch to study and Simon Andrews who is heading north to Auckland.

Wellington has not offered contracts to Mark Jefferson, Mark Gillespie, Grant Donaldson or Ash Turner.

The contract players in each of the associations are:

Auckland: Aaron Barnes, Tama Canning, Paul Hitchcock, Llorne Howell, Tim McIntosh, Rob Nicol, Craig Pryor, Gareth Shaw, Brooke Walker, Kerry Walmsley, Reece Young.

Canterbury: Neil Broom, Wade Cornelius, Stephen Cunis, Andrew Ellis, Peter Fulton, Chris Martin, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Gary Stead, Shanan Stewart, Warren Wisneski.

Central Districts: Campbell Furlong, Bevan Griggs, Lance Hamilton, Brent Hefford, Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Michael Mason, Jesse Ryder, Andrew Schwass, Craig Spearman, Glen Sulzberger, Greg Todd.

Northern Districts: Graeme Aldridge, Matthew Hart, Nick Horsley, Gareth Irwin, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Bruce Martin, Mark Orchard, Grant Robinson, Gareth West, Joseph Yovich.

Otago: Craig Cumming, Chris Gaffaney, Gareth Hopkins, Robbie Lawson, Marcel McKenzie, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Mohammad Wasim, Nathan Morland, David Sewell, Jordan Sheed, Jeff Wilson.

Wellington: Matthew Bell, James Franklin, Richard Jones, Chris Nevin, Iain O'Brien, Michael Parlane, Neal Parlane, Jeetan Patel, Andrew Penn, Matthew Walker, Luke Woodcock.