Cricket Australia has moved to tighten up its playing conditions for the upcoming Sheffield Shield season in a bid to assist batters and promote the use of spin earlier in the day.
Following a summer in which none of the top 10 run scorers in First Class cricket averaged more than 37, the game’s governing body has increased the timing for the middle session and reduced the timing for the last session.
James Allsopp, CA’s chief of cricket, confirmed to Channel 7 and SEN on Thursday that each day’s play would remain at 96 overs, though the timings would be sliced up slightly differently.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Previously each session was two hours (split evenly), with allowances for additional overs if required at the end of the day.
While the first session will remain two hours, the second session will be extended to two hours and 15 minutes. The last session will be reduced to one hour and 45 minutes, with the allowances remaining of up to half an hour.
Allsopp sat on the playing conditions working group in the off-season, alongside Peter Roach (chair), Greg Rowell, an umpire, player’s union representatives and two players – one male and one female.
Armed with the concerning fact that 30 percent of Shield games finished within three days last summer, the working group received submissions from all stakeholders in the game.
They then took their recommendations to the CA executive, where they were ratified in the last fortnight.
It was determined that the middle session is generally the best time to bat, so by extending the timing it is hoped that more runs will be scored when conditions are at their best.
It is also hoped that this one year trial will see captains using spin in the second session, instead of waiting for late in the day to introduce tweakers when the quicks are tired.
Cricket Australia wants to see more spin overs in Shield cricket and more runs than recent summers, but central to this are the quality of pitches around the country.
The instruction to curators around the country is, when in doubt, err on the side of batters.
“If the curator is debating whether to shave the grass coverage to six centimetres or seven centimetres, we want them to shave it to six,” Allsopp said.
Groundsmen have been encouraged to create surfaces which have pace and bounce and as much as possible, replicate the characteristics of that particular venue’s Test pitch.
The BBL will also introduce new playing conditions for the 2026/27 season.
Each team will be afforded a designated batter and therefore a designated fielder. It is hoped that this will extend the careers of older players who aren’t as agile in the field, make it more attractive for Australian stars to return to their franchise, and give opportunities for young fielders to show their talents.
In last year’s BBL, teams needed to commence the final over by a certain time or one fielder came into the circle as a penalty.
If the full innings time then elapsed, a full powerplay mode was the sanction.
But this summer, Cricket Australia has simplified the conditions.
Teams have 84 minutes to bowl their allotted 20 overs. If they can’t do so in time, then they will only be permitted to have two fielders outside the circle for the remainder of the innings.
