Cricket Australia announces domestic schedule

Australia's domestic season for 2004-05 will kick off three weeks earlier than in the previous year, with an ING Cup match between Queensland and New South Wales in Brisbane on October 10. Announcing the programmes for Australia's domestic competitions, Cricket Australia also stated that for the first time there would be no domestic matches occurring concurrently with any representative games, including matches by the A team and the Prime Minister's XI.

The other major change in scheduling is the splitting up of the Pura Cup competition into two separate rounds. Round one will consist of each team playing the other five before Christmas, while the return leg will commence after Christmas. The earlier format had no distinct rounds, which sometimes meant teams played each other home and away in successive weeks.

Speaking to the media, James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said: "Splitting the Pura Cup season into two distinct blocks allows a much more structured approach to programming, while it's good to see that all fit State-contracted players will be available for selection with their State for each scheduled match."