New Zealand domestic season to begin on October 19 with Plunket Shield

The New Zealand domestic season will begin on October 19 with the first round of the Plunket Shield followed by men's and women's one-day competitions starting in late November.

The New Zealand domestic season will begin on October 19 with the first round of the Plunket Shield followed by men's and women's one-day competitions starting in late November. Four rounds of the Plunket Shield will be played until mid-November then the tournament resumes in mid-March with the last round taking place in the first week of April.

Other than six players currently in the UAE for the IPL, all of NZC's contracted cricketers will turn out for their domestic teams for the first half of the Plunket Shield The Ford Trophy, the men's one-day competition, will involve six rounds before the T20 Super Smash starts in December and then resume in February with the final on March 5.

The women's Hallyburton Johnstone Shield will also include six rounds before the Super Smash with the final slated for March 28. NZC Head of Cricket Operations, Richard Brewer said NZC had adopted the majority of the ICC's COVID-19 regulations which many cricket followers will have already seen in effect in this year's northern hemisphere summer."This means New Zealand domestic players will not be permitted to use saliva to shine the ball, and umpires will no longer hold the players' caps or other items of clothing. The new rules also allow for the replacement of players displaying symptoms of COVID-19 during a match, with the option for the player to return to the game following a negative result," said Brewer."These measures will be overseen by the Match Referee and Match Officials, and have already been successfully piloted in pre-season warm-up fixtures between domestic men's sides," he added. (ANI)

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