New Zealand Cricket announces Hallyburton Johnstone Shield 2020-21 schedule

Professional cricket is all set to return to New Zealand as the Board announced the final schedule for the domestic competitions. While the men's tournaments begin on October 19, the women's Hallyburton Johnstone Shield will commence from November 21.



NZC Head of Cricket Operations Richard Brewer said that it was challenging as an environment and in terms of planning the schedule for the summer. "What we are now looking at rolling over the next couple of months is probably better than what everyone hoped," he said in the press conference.



Brewer added that the new COVID-19 regulations put out by the International Cricket Council would be adopted by the NZC during the domestic tournaments. “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," he said.



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“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. 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.”



The tournament will feature six teams with back-to-back games during weekends and would be happening over ten rounds with the final four rounds scheduled to be played in February-March 2021. The top two teams will play the final on March 28 next year. The fixtures, however, could be subjected to change depending on the COVID-19 alerts and restrictions.



Brewer said that after the impact of COVID-19 on the back end of last season, they are grateful to be able to play sport, and offer New Zealanders the chance to see so many quality players and matches this summer. “We’re hoping the chance for the community to come together and enjoy live sport again will spur more people to pop down to enjoy the action in person, particularly with so many matches falling on a weekend,” he concluded.