New Zealand’s domestic summer will start with one-day cricket for the second consecutive year, with the men’s Ford Trophy set to open proceedings on Saturday, October 25, followed by the women’s Hallyburton Johnstone Shield on November 15.
NZC changed up the order of the men’s domestic competitions last season for the first time in over two decades, in a bid to offer different pitch conditions across the white and red-ball formats, as well as to better align with the international schedule.
NZC Chief Cricket Operations Officer Catherine Campbell said the decision to switch the starting order of the two men’s competitions before Christmas was a success.
“Aligning the domestic and international schedules by format was well received by the playing and coaching groups last year, so we’re continuing that this season,” she said.
“It helped our domestic bowlers build-up their bowling loads initially through one-day cricket, which better prepared them for the physical demands of four-day cricket later in the season.
“It’s not always possible to line the fixtures up like that, but this season we’ve been able to again with the Ford Trophy being played over the top of England’s white-ball tour of New Zealand, and the Plunket Shield providing a good run-up into the West Indies Test series.”
Campbell said another positive of the season structure was a more balanced contest between bat and ball over the duration of the season.
“At the start of the season perhaps the pitches are a bit less batter friendly, which presents opportunities for the bowlers to make a big impact on the game. By the second half of the season in February, conditions generally are more batter friendly.”
With the ICC Women’s One-Day World Cup finishing in India a few weeks prior to the start of the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (HBJ), Campbell is looking forward to a contingent of WHITE FERNS coming back to domestic cricket with excellent preparation under their belts.
“The WHITE FERNS will come back from the 50-over World Cup and we’d expect many of those players to be available for HBJ. We are also playing another North v South series in the week leading up to Christmas, which adds a little extra context on performances.”
“All that should allow players to go into Super Smash in some good domestic form.”
Wellington’s Cello Basin Reserve has been selected to host the one-day finals weekend, with the men’s Eliminator on Friday, February 20, the women’s Grand Final on Saturday, February 21 and the men’s Grand Final on Sunday, February 22.
14 venues across New Zealand will accommodate domestic one-day fixtures this season, with games as far south as Queens Park in Invercargill to Cobham Oval in Whangārei.
Both the Otago Sparks and Canterbury men will be pushing for a slice of history this season as they try to win their third consecutive one-day titles.
Reigning women’s champions the Sparks have held off the Wellington Blaze and Auckland Hearts in the two most recent finals, whereas the Canterbury men have overcome their Auckland counterparts for the last two seasons in a row.
The Otago Sparks kick off their defence at home against the Auckland Hearts at University of Otago Oval, while the Canterbury men will host the Otago Volts at Hagley Oval.
Like last season, the one-day competitions will be broken up by both the first half of the Plunket Shield and the full Dream11 Super Smash through the middle of summer.
The Plunket Shield fixtures are set to be released on Wednesday, 13 August, with the Super Smash schedule to follow on Monday, 18 August.
