Don't think Batch wants to do the European leagues at the moment as he has a very young UK-based family. Maybe Sheffield and doubling down in the Championship - although goodness knows what his converted Championship average would be?
Presumably if the '2 Brits at reserve' proves to be accurate, there needs to be sometime for each team to check fixtures and the availability of the preferred Brits before announcing anything and then having to possibly backtrack if certain riders can't make all the fixtures?
I don't recall any official statements suggesting a season start in March.
Easter was the target date in April this year but now the BSPL view is not til May at the earliest.