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Sheffield Shield opens under lights in 2015-16

Australia's domestic first-class competition opens with a day-night round and will also feature a first ever match on foreign soil

The opening round of the 2015-16 Sheffield Shield season will be played under lights, while the first ever domestic first-class fixture will be played abroad.

Cricket Australia has today released the remaining international and domestic fixtures, with the domestic first-class competition to play a pivotal role in conjunction with the national team's interests.

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The pink Kookaburra ball will be used for the opening round of the 2015-16 season ahead of the first-ever day-night Test match a month later.

Adelaide was confirmed as the venue for the first ever day-night Test match, against New Zealand, and the West End Redbacks will host New South Wales in a match that will give as many of the Australian Test team experience of playing at Adelaide Oval under lights.

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Other matches being played under lights will be the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers against the MyFootDr Queensland Bulls at the MCG and the Tasmanian Tigers against the Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors at Hobart's Blundstone Arena.

Round one of the Shield will begin on Tuesday, October 27, with all matches starting at 2pm AEST. The SA v NSW match will start at 2.30pm local time.

The third Test between Australia and New Zealand will be the historic day-night match, taking place at the Adelaide Oval from November 27, meaning the large New South Wales contingent in the Australia squad will get a taste of the conditions in the build-up to the clash.

Pink balls will be used in the round one clashes, as they were in last season’s day-night round of Shield action, and will also be used in the day-night Test.

Meanwhile, the round six match between NSW and WA, beginning on February 3 in Lincoln, just outside of Christchurch in New Zealand, will be the first-ever Shield clash played outside Australia.

The historic fixture has again been scheduled with the intent of adequately preparing a sizeable contingent of Australian players for the first-class conditions across the Tasman ahead of the opening match of the two-Test series against the Black Caps.

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However, some of the Test-playing squad will be with Australia's limited-overs team in the midst of a Chappell-Hadlee series, and Cricket Australia's Executive General Manager Team Performance Pat Howard said a unique solution was required.

"The upcoming schedule in New Zealand presents us with a few challenges when looking to prepare our players for the first Test against the Black Caps," said Howard.

"If we were to schedule a warm-up game, it would have to happen in parallel with the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and Sheffield Shield. That would obviously have a negative impact on the Shield because we’d have to pull extra players out of that competition.

"Therefore we thought bringing a Shield match, involving a number of international players, to New Zealand was a different option that gives us some strong preparation in local conditions.

"Obviously we can't cater for everyone in that scenario, and a number of our Test players will be playing in the Chappell-Hadlee Series, but for those who aren't we'd make plans for them to get the right preparation by playing a Shield match on the east coast of Australia at that time."

In round eight of the Shield, Coffs Harbour will play host to the inaugural Phillip Hughes Tribute match between NSW and SA, Hughes’s two former states.

"Phillip was a wonderful player for NSW, South Australia and Australia, and a proud representative of Macksville and North Coast cricket," Cricket NSW chief executive Andrew Jones said.

"Cricket NSW is delighted that with the support of the Coffs Harbour City Council, we are able to play a tribute match in a region where Phillip was and will forever remain a favourite son."

Elsewhere, reigning champions Victoria begin their new era under David Saker against the Phil Jaques-led Queensland Bulls.

The Bushrangers drew last season’s Shield final at Blundstone Arena in Hobart against the Warriors to claim their third title in seven years.

Past 10 Sheffield Shield champions

2014-15: Victoria
2013-14: New South Wales
2012-13: Tasmania
2011-12: Queensland
2010-11: Tasmania
2009-10: Victoria
2008-09: Victoria
2007-08: New South Wales
2006-07: Tasmania
2005-06: Queensland

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