Cricket Australia has condensed this summer’s Sheffield Shield and men’s domestic one-day competition.
The Shield season will now consist of eight rounds followed by a final that is slated to start on April 15.
The one-day cup will run over five rounds, with its final scheduled for April 11.
The postponement of Australia’s Test tour of South Africa means Pat Cummins, who has been appointed captain of NSW’s one-day team, and a stack of stars will be available for their states.
CA consulted with state associations and the players’ union prior to locking in the trimmed-down season.
CA’s general manager of high performance Drew Ginn noted it was a decision made to manage the “physical and mental wellbeing of players, officials and staff” amid a taxing summer of biosecurity bubbles.
“The lived experience of operating through the pandemic has provided us all with new appreciation and perspective for the increased workloads required to deliver elite, national sporting competitions,” Ginn said.
“It is out of this duty of care that, with the input and support of the states and territories associations and the ACA, we have elected to shorten the (Shield and one-day seasons).
“While ensuring both competitions are of a sufficient length to ensure a high-level of competition.”
The Shield, having started in an Adelaide hub last year, will now revert to being a home-and-away competition.
It will resume next Wednesday, when NSW host Victoria at the SCG while Tasmania take on Queensland in Hobart.
CA has also announced revised dates for the domestic women’s one-day competition, which has not been condensed.
The women’s national cricket league (WNCL) is set to conclude on March 27, when the Meg Lanning-captained Australia team will be in New Zealand for a limited-overs tour.
Brendan Drew, the Australian Cricketers’ Association’s manager of player relations, highlighted that the revised fixtures take “into account a level of fatigue for our male players following the BBL”.
“The ACA commends Cricket Australia and the states for their flexibility in delivering a domestic schedule in evolving and challenging circumstances,” Drew said.
Tlux
Guest
Cuck-et Australia strikes again. Gave up the T20 World Cup so BCCI could run the IPL. Then gives up the end of the shield/one day season so it doesn't clash with the IPL. Not hosting national championships, not going to South Africa..... what DO these guys actually do?
Tony
Roar Guru
So what you're saying John, is that the big bash has well and truly got holey moley covered.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Holey Moley is an insult to people’s “intelligence”. I don’t think the BBL will ever go down that path. They will stick with the winning formula of bat flips, deafeningly loud music & ground announcers encouraging the crowd to cheer, obscure rule changes & sideline interviewers whose cricket knowledge is questionable asking dumb questions of a batsmen who has just been dismissed. Add “experts” such as that Media Giant “Howie” (intentional sarcasm) & former athlete & racing commentator, Jason Richardson & you have “must watch TV” while the viewer awaits the next inane comment!
Micko
Roar Rookie
To elaborate Jeff, the recent kerfuffle about Australia Day was a specific employee from CA who had one of these bulltish positions of "diversity" etc that corporations and large organisations (like CA) create now. :thumbdown: :angry:
Micko
Roar Rookie
So my point is that CA needs to look at itself as the priority, but what do they do Jeff? Cancel Shield games! :angry: :thumbdown:
Micko
Roar Rookie
CA is a bloated organisation with far too many employees (like all sports organisations in Australia: RA, AFL etc), and far too many on the gravy train earning too much money. What do the executives get paid for a start?! Probably a couple of annual millionaires there alone! :thumbdown:
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Yeah, it cheaper to buy ‘ice and snow truckers’ and ‘buy junk from my pawnshop’ shows then having cricket showing on your 2nd/3rd channel
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Lol. The channels would love that. Lol. Just need a rhyming title like Holey Moley. They like batting theme highlights more then bowling. ‘Hittzie Sixie’?
Big Daddy
Guest
No big plus in having Bangladesh come here . They had the choice of going to SA but they chose not to. So I suppose it's of their own making . Some countries are prepared to take the risk albeit fraught with danger. As far as the shield is concerned CA chose to shut it down to run BBL so that's of their own making as well. Just poor management as far as I'm concerned.
Paul
Roar Guru
exactly. It's clear England are on a roll and our red ball cricket's in something of a decline, so what do the guardians of the game do in Australia - reduce the amount of red ball cricket? It's almost as though CA wants to gift Root a knighthood by letting him win the Ashes in Australia
Jeff
Roar Rookie
If CA's finances remain as dire as reported mid last year, probably little chance of them agreeing to host Bangladesh in winter unfortunately. I think from recollection a Test can cost $1.5 to $2m to host and I doubt there will be little appetite from broadcasters for winter cricket, against Bangladesh - and gate receipts would be very small - so expect it would be loss-making exercise by CA. I wish they would do it though. Wouldn't surprise me if the truncated Shield season is in part due to financials, not that CA stated that as a reason of course.
Tony
Roar Guru
If anything, they should have found a way to add a couple of games
Tony
Roar Guru
I just love your lateral thinking SP. Perhaps CA could have a look at the Holey Moley format while they're at it to increase audience interest.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Absolutely disgraceful. We've all long suspected what the administrators' honest opinion about the Sheffield Shield was, and this absolutely confirms it. The SA tour being cancelled should've meant a full Shield. No justification for cancelling games at all! :angry:
Micko
Roar Rookie
This is ridiculous. The cancellation of the SA tour, if anything, should mean a normal full length Shield season! :angry: :thumbdown:
Rellum
Roar Guru
If anything told you how little those at CA regard the Shield this is it. Staying in bubbles is totally expected for the other comps but the State comps, we don't want to put the players through that do we, that might be a little too hard. What a joke. It is clear if they could get rid f the States and the Shield they would. At least now maybe the Test players will play in maybe half the games instead of two. There is no way the three Test bowlers will be playing six games. I mean we wouldn't want the learning how to get match fit would we.
Sgt Pepperoni
Roar Rookie
Whole summer? Let's play Big Bash for the whole year. Think how complicated you could make the play-off series. The play-offs could start in August and finish in March two days before the new season begins. If a single day of the year passes without at least one big bash game being played then all teams have to offer up a player for ritual sacrifice. They'll be killed by being force fed zing bails. Tell me that won't get the kids excited about cricket
DTM
Roar Rookie
Maybe we should just drop the SS competition altogether and play Big Bash for the whole Summer? Imagine all the extra money we'd make with each franchise playing 30 or 40 games before a lengthy finals series (featuring 6 or 7 teams). Also, we'd save a heap of money not having to fly cricketers around the country to play a SS game in front of 500 people (most of whom wouldn't have to pay an entrance fee). Plenty of bonuses for the CA execs.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
We fall all over ourselves to accommodate India but Bangladesh? I think CA will be soft in the head to do something so positive.
Dave
Guest
Just so long as the Big Cash isn't affected, eh?