Big boost for A team cricket in New Zealand

A substantial new initiative which will result in a regular A team programme for New Zealand's second-tier cricketers, could be the forerunner to a regular schedule for A sides from all the Test-playing nations. A team from Sri Lanka will open the A team's enhanced programme in New Zealand this summer.

The A Team Series will be played in the South Island and will consist of three five-day "Tests" followed by a three match one day international Series. This is a significant boost for the South Island which missed out on the allocation of a Test match during the two series to be staged in New Zealand this summer. The tour will be in March with all the one-day matches being staged at Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University, as well as the second "Test" from March 18-22. The venues for the first and third "Tests" on March 10-14 and March 26-30 respectively, have still to be confirmed.

The three ODIs will be played on April 2, 4 and 6 while the first match of the tour, a three-day game from March 5-7 will be against a major association at a venue to be confirmed.

There are casualties as a result of the change, and the 10 rounds of State Championship four-day matches has been reduced to eight rounds, with the re-introduction of a final for the Championship. In making the announcement of their domestic programme today, Martin Snedden, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said negotiations were underway with the other full International Cricket Council (ICC) members to establish an annual A team playing programme involving home and away tours.

"Over the past two years there has been a significant change in the attitudes of other Test-playing countries to A Team tours. There is an increasing realisation about the importance of such tours for bridging the gap between domestic and international cricket.

"These countries now recognise that it is pointless organising tours where their A teams play teams of dubious quality. There is a recognition that, to achieve the best cricketing value, the best second-tier players must be playing against each other in conditions that mirror, as far as reasonably possible, top level international competition," Snedden said.

New Zealand's Cricket Players' Association has agreed with the move, and players were surveyed for their response to the change. "The players see that there is a need for an A Team playing programme and understand that New Zealand Cricket remains committed to domestic cricket as the strongest platform from which to build a pool of prospective international players."

"At the same time as the A Team programme is being introduced, we are working with the Major Associations, with the assistance of the CPA, to intensify our focus on ensuring the quality of domestic cricket is as strong as possible. This recognises that domestic cricket is the breeding ground for our future Black Caps stars.

"As part of this initiative all warm-up matches against Pakistan and against South Africa will be played against Major Association teams," Snedden said. He added that the New Zealand Academy programme that was aborted during last year's players' strike had been reinstated and all but Northern Districts of New Zealand's domestic associations will be playing a series of two-day and one-day matches at Lincoln University's high performance centre. The eight Academy members in this year's intake will be supplemented by available internationals and emerging players are required.

"The playing programme will provide meaningful pre-season preparation for the Major Association teams and will provide Academy players with an opportunity to impress Major Association coaches as well as to rub shoulders with some of our Test match heroes," Snedden said.