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Back-to-back Allan Border Medallist Shane Watson says reducing the Sheffield Shield season would hurt Australia’s performance in the Test arena.
Cutting back from the current 10 Shield games per state per season, plus the final, is one of the options under consideration as Cricket Australia works out how to fit in a revamped and expanded Twenty20 competition.
But Watson said his own experience suggested the Shield needed to remain at least, or Australia’s Test prospects would suffer.
“I personally think so yeah, because you need to get good consistent cricket under your belt as well,” he said.
“I know from a body point of view that you do have to get your body used to doing what it needs to do and that is playing consistent cricket for a longer period of time.
“Ten games of Shield cricket is a great challenge for your body to be able to get through.
“If you make the next step up to international cricket, the schedule is all year round, so it’s something people need to get used to … so let’s hope that it does stay at 10 because I think it’s really important.”
The CA board was meeting in Melbourne on Tuesday, with the format and scheduling of the new T20 competition one of the main agenda items.
Watson said while CA viewed a souped-up T20 tournament as very important, Shield cricket would always be the “backbone” of Australia’s success in the game.
“They need to try to find the balance so it’s not out of kilter a bit with too much Twenty20 cricket.”
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