Perhaps it's fitting that the opening passages of the 2001-02 domestic first-class season will be played out against the backdrop of a Federal election campaign. Because, from its starting point tomorrow, this is a summer that will either help to entrench something rapidly approaching the status of a dynasty or to pave the way for the emergence of a new ruler.

In securing four of the last seven first-class titles on offer in Australian interstate competition, Queensland has not only effectively dispelled time-honoured jokes about its inability to win a crown from any of 62 previous attempts. It has also helped take the quality of state cricket in Australia to a new level, establishing a robust benchmark against which every other team is now forced to measure its own performance.

The Queenslanders have the entirety of their title-winning squad of 2000-01 on call again, together with the likes of national representatives Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, who were in India when the Pura Cup Final was won back in March. An injury-free Michael Kasprowicz is also effectively a new recruit, having appeared in just one first-class match for Queensland last season.

But, while the Bulls might have played with great confidence and assurance on their way to back-to-back titles, history shows that the task of winning three in a row (elections or cricket trophies, it scarcely matters which) is not so easy.

Having served an impressive apprenticeship over the last three years, Victoria shapes as at least one side likely to challenge the Queenslanders' authority. The Bushrangers have forged a powerful rivalry with the Sunshine State in recent times, resisting the Bulls' renowned ploy of bowling to packed off-side fields and coming the closest of any team to upsetting their dominance in an engrossing Final at the 'Gabba.

The Victorians were ultimately left to rue the impact of a slow start to the season, but enjoyed a powerful finish as their combination of vigilant batting and accurate bowling served to bring a succession of opponents undone. As he nears retirement, hard-working captain Paul Reiffel is likely to play a more understated role this time. But a team which contains names like Matthew Elliott, Damien Fleming, Colin Miller, Mathew Inness, Jason Arnberger and Brad Hodge can never be discounted.

Tasmania's third-placed finish last season can be viewed in contrasting ways. It might either be seen as an inaccurate result following a string of poor performances in the middle of the season, or an appropriate reflection of the fact that it closed out the program in form as convincing as anyone's. Its array of young talent is impressive and it was certainly no accident that its turnaround last summer coincided with the arrival in the state of talented all-rounder Shane Watson. Improving contributions from players like Sean Clingeleffer and Scott Kremerskothen were also influential. Its bowlers remain underrated and, if it finds the right mix of batsmen to appropriately support Jamie Cox at the top of the order, it might well be the summer's surprise packet.

New South Wales is again likely to rely heavily on the impact of its international representatives at the start of the season. Like Tasmania, though, its policy of placing an accent on youth in recent years might well begin to reap a range of tangible rewards this summer. Greg Mail and Michael Clarke look ideally suited to berths in the team's top order, Mark Higgs continues to make rapid strides as an all-rounder, and Don Nash is quickly earning a reputation as one of the country's best fast bowlers. And don't overlook the fact that Michael Slater and Stuart MacGill could be available to the team for almost all of its matches in this campaign.

In ending the 2000-01 season in fifth place, Western Australia returned its worst result at first-class level in as many as 11 years. It was an experience that was as unfulfilling as it was unfamiliar, and it culminated in the departures of coach Wayne Clark and two long-serving heroes in Tom Moody and Brendon Julian. Yet it is rare for the Warriors to enter any season without high hopes and without looking like they have the firepower to be genuinely competitive against all opposition. Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn seem destined to be absent for most of the season, and Justin Langer and Simon Katich may also only appear sparingly as a legacy of their commitments with the national team. But, in the likes of Mike Hussey, Murray Goodwin, Marcus North, Matt Nicholson, a hopefully injury-free Brad Williams and the emerging Shaun Marsh, the core of a potentially great side still exists. Down but by no means out of the picture remain the Warriors.

South Australia's senior core of players continues to provide yeoman service, but the state team has not received quite the same level of output from its next bracket of cricketers. Greg Blewett and Darren Lehmann's performances with the bat mean plenty but they have found that their back-up has been limited, while holes in the bowling attack were similarly badly exposed last summer by the loss of Jason Gillespie to international commitments and Brad Young and Paul Wilson to injury. Chris Davies, Graham Manou, Paul Rofe and Luke Williams shape as important players this season, standard-bearers as they are for the next wave of successful Redbacks. Though injuries are again a blight before the first-class season has even commenced, it could ultimately be an exciting year for the South Australians if the vagaries of good fortune and form at last turn in their favour.

In all, it shapes as another intriguing six-way battle between the states in what remains arguably the world's premier first-class competition. Unlike the contest in Canberra, the winner here will not be required to kiss babies along the way nor will it ultimately assume any of the weighty responsibilities of elected office. But it could be just as close a race for power.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd