Domestic season to start on October 11

The 2009-10 Australian domestic season will start on October 11 with a Ford Ranger Cup match between Western Australia and Queensland in Perth. The match will be followed by the opening round of the Sheffield Shield but Victoria and New South Wales will have to wait until later October and early November to start their campaigns due to their involvement in the Champions League Twenty20.

The KFC Twenty20 will again be contested across the New Year period from December 28 to January 2. The format will be identical to last season's with the top team qualifying automatically for the final with their opponent decided in a preliminary final.

"The lure of a spot in the Champions League Twenty20 for the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash finalists will be one of the main points of interest throughout the season, as will the confirmed participation of international stars Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis," Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland said.

The domestic fixtures will also be supported by an increased level of TV coverage on Fox Sports, with an additional 10 matches on view compared to last season. "The new Fox Sports agreement is a great result for Australian cricket," Sutherland said. "Fox Sports' increased commitment, which includes coverage of women's matches, will mean more interstate cricket being televised than in previous years."

There was also good news for women's cricket with the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) expanded to six teams and a new seven-team Twenty20 competition to be contested. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Meteors have been admitted into the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and the inaugural Women's Twenty20 competition, while Tasmania will compete in the new Twenty20 competition only.

In previous years, women's teams had played a selection of independent Twenty20 matches throughout the season, but in the upcoming season, the matches will be consolidated into a competition. The inaugural Twenty20 competition has been attached to WNCL rounds where possible, with nine matches also scheduled to be played as double-header clashes with the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, including the final on January 23.