Reduced Shield, one-day competitions revealed

Up to eight members of Australia's Test squad could be on show at North Sydney Oval on Monday for the resumption of the men's domestic season, with both the first-class and one-day competitions reduced due to concerns over bubble fatigue.

Cricket Australia has unveiled a revamped schedule for both state-based men's competitions, with the Marsh One-Day Cup reduced to five games each plus the final and the Marsh Sheffield Shield restricted to a total of eight rounds plus the final, down from the usual 10 rounds per season.

CA, the players' union (the Australian Cricketers' Association) and the states and territories have agreed to reduce the number of matches to minimize "the extraordinary demands" placed on players, coaches and officials this season, most of whom have been in a bio-secure environment of some kind for much of the past four months.

And with the season due to finish later that normal with the Shield final scheduled for April 15-19, the game's stakeholders have decided to act as part of a "duty of care".

"Today's announcement safeguards the integrity of the Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cap competitions while managing the physical and mental wellbeing of players, officials and staff on account of the extraordinary demands placed upon them this season," said Drew Ginn, Cricket Australia's Executive General Manager High Performance.

"The lived experience of operating through the pandemic has provided us all with new appreciation and perspective for the increased workloads required to deliver elite, national sporting competitions.

"It is out of this duty of care that, with the input and support of the states and territories associations and the ACA, we have elected to shorten the Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup, while ensuring both competitions are of a sufficient length to ensure a high-level of competition for teams and players."

Every game of the Marsh Cup will be streamed live and free on cricket.com.au as well as Kayo Sports, while 12 of the 16 matches will also be shown on Fox Cricket, including the final.

The Shield will be live streamed for free on cricket.com.au while selected matches – including the five-day final – will be shown on Fox Cricket and Kayo.

Matches in both competitions will be played in all six states and predominantly on a traditional home-and-away basis, although venues may change pending restrictions on borders and the public health situation in each state.

It's yet to be announced if games will be open to the public, with each relevant state to make determinations based on the public health situation at the time.

The schedule for the Women's National Cricket League has also been tweaked slightly and it's been confirmed that at least seven of the remaining matches - including the final on March 27 - will be live streamed on cricket.com.au, while the final will also be broadcast on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports.

While the men's domestic season will be shorter than normal, the postponement of Australia's Test tour of South Africa means the quality of players on show in the coming weeks will be much higher than it has been in recent memory.

The start of the Marsh Cup on Monday will see NSW take on Victoria at North Sydney Oval and, depending on availability and fitness, could feature more than half of Australia's Test squad that was meant to tour South Africa – Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Marcus Harris, James Pattinson and Will Pucovski.

The two teams will then face off at the SCG in the first Shield match of the year, starting on February 17, with both states to announce their squads later this week.

CA's high-performance team met last week to determine the individual availability of its most important players, many of whom were restricted in an international bubble from late August until the end of the recent Border-Gavaskar Test Series.

Several big names are expected to leave Australia before the end of the season to take part in the 2021 Indian Premier League – which will reportedly start on April 11 – while some members of Australia's T20 squad currently in New Zealand are expected to return to their state sides once that tour finishes on March 7.

"The ACA is pleased that a full WNCL schedule will be executed for our female players while an eight-game Sheffield Shield season and five-game Marsh Cup season plus finals takes into account a level of fatigue for our male players following the BBL," said Brendan Drew, the ACA's General Manager Cricket Operations and Player Relations.

"From the outset, the players have maintained that domestic cricket is a vital cog of the Australian game and we are pleased that a balanced 2021 schedule will be able to support these competitions over the coming months."

Victoria, who played just two Shield matches at the start of the season due to restrictions placed on them following Melbourne's second wave of COVID19, face the toughest schedule in the coming months, with six Shield games and five one-dayers to be played, as well as finals (should they qualify).

Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania have four Shield games to come as well as the One-Day Cup, while NSW and Queensland have five Shield matches on their schedule to go with the one-dayers.

REMAINING MARSH SHEFFIELD SHIELD FIXTURE

Select matches will be live streamed on cricket.com.au

* denotes match also shown on Fox Cricket

Feb 17-20: New South Wales v Victoria (SCG)*

Feb 17-20: Tasmania v Queensland (Blundstone Arena)

Feb 25-28: Western Australia v South Australia (WACA Ground)

Feb 25-28: Victoria v New South Wales (MCG)*

Mar 5-8: Victoria v Tasmania (MCG)

Mar 6-9: South Australia v New South Wales (Adelaide Oval)

Mar 6-9: Queensland v Western Australia (Gabba)

Mar 15-18: Queensland v Victoria (Allan Border Field)

Mar 20-23: Tasmania v New South Wales (Blundstone Arena)

Mar 23-26: Queensland v South Australia (Ian Healy Oval, Brisbane)

Mar 25-28: Western Australia v Victoria (WACA Ground)

Apr 3-6: Victoria v South Australia (CitiPower Centre)

Apr 3-6: New South Wales v Queensland (North Dalton Park, Wollongong)

Apr 3-6: Western Australia v Tasmania (WACA Ground)

Apr 15-19: Final (Venue TBC)*

MARSH ONE-DAY CUP FIXTURE

ALL matches to be live streamed on cricket.com.au and Kayo Sports

* denotes match also shown on Fox Cricket

Feb 15: New South Wales v Victoria (North Sydney Oval)*

Feb 22: Tasmania v Queensland (Blundstone Arena)*

Mar 2: Western Australia v South Australia (WACA Ground)*

Mar 4: South Australia v New South Wales (Adelaide Oval) (D/N)

Mar 10: Victoria v Tasmania (CitiPower Centre)*

Mar 11: Queensland v Western Australia (Gabba)*

Mar 12: South Australia v Tasmania (CitiPower Centre)*

Mar 14: New South Wales v Western Australia (North Sydney Oval)*

Mar 18: Tasmania v New South Wales (Blundstone Arena)*

Mar 20: Queensland v Victoria (Allan Border Field)*

Mar 23: Western Australia v Victoria (WACA Ground)

Mar 28: Queensland v South Australia (Allan Border Field)

Mar 31: New South Wales v Queensland (North Sydney Oval) (D/N)*

Apr 8: Victoria v South Australia (CitiPower Centre)*

Apr 8: Western Australia v Tasmania (WACA Ground)

Apr 11: Final (Venue TBC)*

REMAINING WOMEN'S NATIONAL CRICKET LEAGUE FIXTURE

* denotes match to be shown on cricket.com.au

** denotes match to be shown on Foxtel, Kayo and cricket.com.au

Feb 10: Victoria v New South Wales (CitiPower Centre)*

Feb 12: Victoria v New South Wales (CitiPower Centre)*

Feb 17: Tasmania v Western Australia (Kingston Twin Ovals)

Feb 19: Tasmania v Western Australia (Kingston Twin Ovals)

Feb 20: Queensland v South Australia (Allan Border Field)

Feb 21: Victoria v Australian Capital Territory (CitiPower Centre)*

Feb 23: Victoria v South Australia (CitiPower Centre)*

Feb 25: Tasmania v New South Wales (Blundstone Arena)

Feb 27: Queensland v Western Australia (Allan Border Field)

Feb 28: Tasmania v Victoria (Blundstone Arena)

Feb 28: South Australia v New South Wales (Karen Rolton Oval)

Mar 1: Queensland v Western Australia (Allan Border Field)

Mar 5: Australian Capital Territory v New South Wales (EPC Solar Park)

Mar 5: Victoria v Queensland (CitiPower Centre)*

Mar 7: Australian Capital Territory v New South Wales (EPC Solar Park)

Mar 7: Tasmania v Queensland (Blundstone Arena)

Mar 9: Western Australia v South Australia (WACA Ground)

Mar 12: Western Australia v Australian Capital Territory (WACA Ground) (D/N)

Mar 18: Western Australia v Victoria (WACA Ground)

Mar 19: New South Wales v Queensland (North Sydney Oval)

Mar 19: South Australia v Tasmania (Karen Rolton Oval)

Mar 20: Western Australia v Victoria (WACA Ground)

Mar 21: New South Wales v Queensland (North Sydney Oval)*

Mar 21: South Australia v Australian Capital Territory (Karen Rolton Oval) (D/N)

March 27 Final (Venue TBC)**