Cricket Australia Drops Pink-Ball Fixtures from Upcoming Sheffield Shield Games

Cricket Australia (CA) have decided to drop Pink-Ball fixtures from Sheffield Shield games for the first time in six years, announced on June 21 (Thursday).

Meanwhile, the first of five rounds will kick-off earlier than usual, on October 16. As a result, Test aspirants will have enough time to claim their inclusion in the Test side. India will play their first Test against the Aussies on December 6 later this year.

The first half of the season will see the use of red balls while the second half will see the English manufactured Duke balls.

Also, the JLT One-Day Cup will commence from September 16 in Townsville with Queensland and Victoria playing against each other. CA have decided to revamp the tournament with only six teams, with them doing away with Cricket Australia XI in the competition.

The tweaked one-day cup’s format now has the six teams partaking in knockout fixtures.

The sixth-placed team plays the third-placed one while the fourth play fifth. The winner of each game will progress to semifinals against the top two sides. Melbourne will host the final on October 10.

The CA XI will play in three men’s and two women’s tour matches across red and white-ball formats through the season. The men’s CA XI will first be up against South Africa before their ODI series. They will also feature in three-day matches against India and Sri Lanka respectively, ahead of their Test series.

For the women’s competitions, the Women’s National Cricket League that will kick-off on September 16.

Although India refused to play a pink-ball Test, Sri Lanka will take part in a day-night fixture in their two-Test series, at the Gabba on January 24.

Furthermore, Perth’s new stadium will host a Shield game between Western Australia and New South Wales, before it hosts India for its maiden Test from December 14.

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