Plunket Shield set to be trimmed from 10 to eight rounds
FIRSTCLASS cricket is set for a trim this season with the tournament expected to be pruned from 10 to eight rounds.
The move was more or less signalled by New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White last year.
White suggested the time was right to review the domestic competitions. With so much limitedovers cricket ahead of the Black Caps, the Plunket Shield always shaped as the mostly likely tournament to take a hit. It costs New Zealand Cricket up to $5 million a season and offers no financial return.
However, it is also the tradi tional form of the game and is still considered the best format to develop quality players. Perhaps for that reason it has survived a more dramatic cut.
The players will still be busy. A source told the Otago Daily Times the oneday tournament is expanding to include two extra rounds and it is understood the playoff format will change to bring it into line with the twenty20 competition.
The New Zealand A pro gramme is set to expand as well and it is hoped the extended schedule will help bridge the gap to international cricket.
It is believed a more substantial New Zealand A programme was critical in convincing the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association to accept changes to the firstclass competition.
NZCPA chief executive Heath Mills said he was not in a position to comment but the structure of the firstclass competition has tended to fluctuate between five and 10 roundrobin games.
It is also not an indication the tournament’s longevity is at risk. However, there has been a seismic shift in sport during the past 30 years.
Cricket is a timeconsuming and difficult game which does not always easily fit with modern lifestyles.
Former New Zealand Cricket director Martin Snedden was in Dunedin last month to discuss the future of the sport in the region and said cricket needed to adapt to remain relevant for future generations.
The game is losing secondary school players faster than any other sport and he believed the solution was ‘‘shortform stuff’’.
Former New Zealand and Otago allrounder Jimmy Neesham, who made the decision to transfer north to Wellington next season, felt firstclass cricket was where you ‘‘earned your stripes and where you get the most value out of your game’’.
He felt cutting the Plunket Shield would be fine ‘‘as long as those games are replaced with other meaningful firstclass fixtures or New Zealand A tours’’.
‘‘I think the main thing is just getting a high volume of cricket into guys so they can actually learn what works and what doesn’t before they get to the international level and have to find out in the cauldron.’’