Last chance to impress the selectors

This year's State of Origin match, between South Island and North Island, will provide a last chance for players on the fringe of the international squad to impress the selectors for the upcoming series against South Africa.

The match will be part of a festival weekend of cricket, with the State Shield final to be played on Friday, February 6. The venue for both matches is yet to be decided, but both will be televised live.

Martin Snedden, the board's chief executive, said the State of Origin match provided a "new dimension to our domestic cricket season". He added, "With the squad being announced at the conclusion the State of Origin match, this year's game will have an extra edge as a number of players on the fringe of selection use it as a last chance to impress the national selectors."

Qualification for the game is determined on where a player first played either first-class cricket or senior representative one-day cricket. In the case of players who first appeared for Central Districts, selection will be determined by the location of the district from which he was first selected to play. Both teams will be chosen by the national selectors and will be named on Saturday, January 31.

Meanwhile, the draw for the final three rounds of the State Championship has been made, with round six of the competition starting on Saturday, February 14.

The three top states after the first five rounds will now play each of the bottom three teams. Each side carries forward the points it accumulated in the first five rounds.

The points after the first five rounds are: Canterbury 20, Wellington 14, Auckland 13, Central Districts 12, Otago 5, Northern Districts 2.

Round 6 - February 14 to 17
Otago v Auckland, University Oval, Dunedin
Canterbury v Central Districts, Rangiora Recreation Ground
Wellington v Northern Districts, Wellington

Round 7 - February 20 to 23
Auckland v Northern Districts, Auckland
Central Districts v Wellington, Napier
Otago v Canterbury, Alexandra

Round 8 - February 26 to 29
Central Districts v Auckland, New Plymouth
Northern Districts v Canterbury, Hamilton
Wellington v Otago, Wellington

Final
March 4 to 7