It is time to get stuck into the business part of the 2021-22 Hoggies Wines Barber Shield season as the players swap the coloured clothes for the more traditional whites.

The new Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association season jetted off with three entertaining one-day rounds, but now it is time for the red ball and longer two-day format to take centre-stage ahead of the Christmas and Adelaide Test break.

Having shaken the early-season rust off in the first three weeks the players should be primed to make an impact with double the amount of overs on offer.

Everyone will be determined to show what they are made of in the format which decides the Barber Shield where class is more rewarded over craziness.

After the opening three rounds one team has risen head and shoulders above the rest, East Gambier.

Having fallen narrowly short of the prize in recent years, the Bulldogs are at full bark and playing a formidable brand of cricket.

Alex Hentschke’s team is the only outfit yet to drop a game and the success has been created from its depth.

The tall captain leads the attack with crafty operators such as Liam Turley, Travis Younghusband, Emerson Marks, Nathan Gore and Marc Roberts by his side.

There is also strength in the batting order led by run-machine Dion Stratford and Steven Cameron, who will be eyeing off long stints at the crease this weekend.

The Bulldogs could be further bolstered if Ben Hentschke is brought back into the mix after the leg-spinning all-rounder scored an unbeaten century in the B Grade.

East enters its first red ball fixture with plenty of confidence of more success as the unbeaten team faces the winless Mil Lel at Frew Park.

Alex Hentschke is looking forward to the battle and especially all the joys that are associated with the longer format.

“I am so keen just to bowl a decent spell and not have to worry about managing overs or field restrictions,” he said.

“You also get a good chance to bat and we have a few blokes who look really good for the two-day format with the patience and technique.

“Mil Lel is a real surprise packet with what they have picked up.

“They have been making runs and Will Rowland appears to be in a rich vein of form, so hopefully we can get him cheaply.

“But it will be a good game like it always is against them.”

Hentschke is right about Mil Lel’s form, although Jack Miller’s side has lost all three games, its batting stocks have sky-rocketed.

After enduring more than 600 days without breaking the 200-run barrier, the club has done it twice in as many weeks largely thanks to the flamboyant Rowland.

The dashing opener has already smashed 81 and 93 in his last two innings and with more time to kill, he will be keen to make it third time lucky and finally crack triple figures.

Rowland has not been a one-man band though, enjoying solid support from fellow top-order batters Darcy Williamson, Todd Carpenter and Carey Megaw.

But it will be a different test against an East attack with a habit of restricting teams to small totals.

The match of the round will be a replay of last summer’s semi-final between North Sportsman’s and West Gambier.

On that occasion the Tigers were too good, winning by 40 runs in a battle where the highest individual score was 32.

But this time the Roos will have their tails up after bouncing back from a disappointing defeat to East with a resounding win over South Gambier.

The away-from-home triumph was set up by Justin DeJong, who will still be on cloud 9 following his all-round heroics of 101 and 4/25.

West sits well above North on the ladder, but everyone in the Limestone Coast cricket world knows when the red ball arrives, the Tigers come out to play.

The yellow and black stars such as Nick McInerney, Jake Schutz, Tim Young and Declan Kenny stand taller in the white clothes and often find ways of winning the critical passages of play.

Ominously North put a disappointing start to the season behind and pulled off an astonishing run chase behind enemy lines against Mil Lel to return to winning ways.

But one thing up the Roos’ sleeve is they are the only team to beat North in the two-day format in nine matches.

McInerney admitted his team loved the two-day battle and was ready for an arm wrestle with West.

“We are very excited about the red ball because it is probably our preferred format,” he said.

“But West is in pretty good form and have a lot of really good players, so it will be a challenge we are looking forward to.”

The other contest will be fought between South Gambier and Penola at Blue Lake Sports Park.

The Eagles swoop into the game as favourites having easily won the corresponding fixture last summer.

In the two-day affair also played at Blue Lake Sports Park, Michael Waters tore the Demons to shreds after his eight-wicket haul skittled the home side for a meagre 83.

Both sides will be looking for a confidence-boosting performance after suffering painful defeats last week.

Despite all of the excitement around the return of two-day cricket, gloomy weather could spoil the party with persistent showers forecast.