New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Thursday confirmed the resumption of the domestic cricket in the country starting from October 19. Plunket Shield will be the first tournament with the first round of men’s and women’s competition beginning late November.
As many as four rounds will be played until the mid-November, with the remaining part to resume in the mid-March. While the final round will take place in the first week of April.
Players who are centrally contracted by the NZC will be taking part in the opening round of tournament barring the ones taking part in the IPL.
The Ford Trophy consisting of six rounds will also get a green signal before the T20 Super Smash tournament which will start from December.
Women’s tournament Hallyburton Johnstone Shield will also have six rounds is also slated to begin before the Super Smash.
“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,” NZC head of cricket operations Richard Brewer said.
“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,” he added.
NZC has issued all the guidelines for the resumption of the domestic tournaments. The players will not be able to use saliva to shine the ball and umpires withheld from holding players’ caps or other belongings.
