After nine years in the commercial wilderness, the historic Sheffield Shield may once again become the symbol of interstate cricketing supremacy in Australia.
The Pura Cup will cease to exist following this season’s final between NSW and Victoria starting at the SCG on Saturday.
National Foods, which owns the milk brand, has decided to end its sponsorship.
“It raises the prospect of the Sheffield Shield trophy making a comeback,” said Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young.
That will delight purists of the game who were dismayed in 1999 when CA changed the name of the competition, which began when Lord Sheffield donated the ornate silver trophy in 1892.
The shield itself has been in a derelict condition, but has been restored to its former glory and is currently on display at the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Young said CA were currently looking at a couple of prospects to take over sponsorship of the competition next season.
He said it was too early to say what form any new sponsorship would take.
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