Another name change, mass changes in personnel, changes to the contractual basis upon which cricketers were paid and played. Yet the more things altered, the more they stayed the same during the domestic first-class season of 2000-01.

This was a year for new names; as many as 128 players were used in total and a staggering nineteen experienced their first taste of first-class cricket altogether. But it was also a year during which old hands remained firm. As with the revision at the margins that saw the 'Pura Milk Cup' become the 'Pura Cup', there came only subtle alterations to the broader script.

From another tough and competitive season, Queensland and Victoria emerged as the frontrunners again; they accordingly stand ready to contest the nineteenth Final in the history of first-class competition between the six states. For the Bulls, it's a third consecutive Final at home and a fourth berth in the competition decider in the space of five years. Old habits die hard. Victoria's appearances at this stage of the season have been more fleeting but it carries the experience of having run second last summer and has been seriously coveting the crown for quite a few years now.

And, in the main, each owes its success to experience. The ever-reliable Adam Dale and Andy Bichel were trenchant campaigners with the ball for Queensland; Jimmy Maher, Martin Love and Stuart Law its standard-bearers with the bat. Even the rise of a spectacularly successful Joe Dawes, whose status as the Pura Cup's leading wicket taker this year took some by surprise, couldn't have been considered completely unexpected given the extent of the apprenticeship the thirty year old has served on the brink of this wonderful team.

Likewise, the Bushrangers have shown that there is simply no substitute for the steadying influence of seasoned campaigners. At various times over the last seven years, Brad Hodge's first-class form has proved infuriating to those who have anticipated more from such a gifted player. But criticism could never be levelled this year; from early in 2000-01, the right hander was in the imperious touch that his talent almost seems to demand. From his position at the top of the batting order, ex-New South Welshman Jason Arnberger has been no small factor behind the Victorians' rise over recent years; fittingly, he was a central component behind the 2000-01 performance as well. Other hardened foot-soldiers like Paul Reiffel, Mathew Inness and Ian Harvey have also again been key figures in the Victorians' success.

Elsewhere on the table, there were no earth-shattering movements. Tasmania and Western Australia swapped positions, and New South Wales and South Australia similarly traded places. But all four continued to be left well behind by the eventual finalists. Moreover, they continued to suffer from problems that haunted them last summer.

Before a spectacular late season rally, the third-placed Tasmanians again struggled to fire when it mattered most. Once more, opener and captain Jamie Cox was their shining light. However, it was another year in which their bowlers performed honestly and the vast majority of their batsmen let them down.

True to the word of its administrators and players at the end of a disastrous 1999-2000, New South Wales did produce an improved year. But the gulf between its form with and without its international players - while hardly surprising - still represents its Achilles heel and a mountainous hurdle for it to overcome.

Just as it did in 1999-2000, Western Australia struggled through the opening stages of the year and it largely failed to recover the lost ground. By this summer's conclusion, it seemed that not all was well in the West. The CEO, the coach, the captain, the media liaison officer were among those headed in other directions by season's end.

And, for South Australia, one problem loomed large again. Greg Blewett and Darren Lehmann fired; the rest of its batsmen struggled. Selectors took the positive step of blooding youngsters but, after Christmas, four straight outright defeats meant that there was little about which to enthuse.

For the Tigers, the Blues, the Warriors and the Redbacks, next summer will carry new hope and new promise. But, for the moment, it's impossible to think about anything but how 2000-01 will end. And, if so many of the season's other trends are a guide, then augurs well for another absorbing Final.

Last season's battle headed Queensland's way from early in the piece but the match was replete with great batting, great bowling, tension and controversy. And that's been the case during most of the last eighteen years. Despite perceptions to the contrary - encouraged as they are by the playing condition that ensures that the top-ranked side merely needs to draw the match to win the title - the deciding match has, in fact, only ended in a stalemate twice in the last eleven years.

If such ingredients are all somewhere within the mix again, there certainly shouldn't be too much cause for complaint about how another memorable summer concludes.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd