Cricket Australia make structural changes to domestic One-day competition

Cricket Australia (CA) have made structural changes to their domestic One-day competition JLT Cup, which is set to commence from September 21. The tournament, which over the course of the last six seasons, has been played out continuously in one go, will now be split into three phases. While the first phase will begin on September 21, the second and the third phases, which will comprise 11 matches, will be played out between late-October and mid-November, with the final set to take place on November 26th. 

The qualifying structure of the tournament has also been revamped by CA. Last season, all six state sides were included in the knockout stage - divided into qualifying finals, semifinals and the final. But this season, the teams will compete in a round-robin format where each team will play a total of six matches playing against the rest of the pot, with the top two teams set to qualify for the final. The final will be held at the home of the team which will finish top of the table.

The season will also witness the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) host five of the matches, having not hosted any domestic One-day match since 2013 and 2014 respectively. The WACA is also set to host four matches of the competition.

"We've listened to the states, territories, the ACA and players on what is going to make our cricket system stronger," Peter Roach, the chief of CA's cricket operations was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

"For the men's One-Day Cup, the key priorities were to play matches in more than one block, have them played on bigger grounds, ideally at our major venues, and play some more matches overall. We believe we have been able to meet these priorities," he added.

The Sheffield Shield will also kick off on October 10, between the first and the second phase of the JLT Cup. A total of six Sheffield Shield matches will also be played before the start of the BBL, in order to give all players the best platform to prove their credentials ahead of Test series' against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. 

"From a timing point of view, we need to ensure that we play matches at times of the season to best present and prepare our players for international cricket. At the same time, we need to ensure there is appropriate rest periods between matches and the right opportunities for players to participate in Premier Cricket," Roach explained. 

"We've tried to schedule Sheffield Shield games most effectively around the Test matches, with a Shield round starting as late as we can pre-Christmas to get it as close to the Perth Test, Boxing Day Test and Sydney Test as we can before the KFC Big Bash League season starts," he said.

CA also hinted at the exclusion of day-night Sheffield Shield matches from the upcoming domestic season.