Test stars’ long absence from domestic red-ball competition to end with four Shield rounds scheduled before Border Gavaskar series opener

Australia’s leading male players will have a rare chance to pit their red-ball skills against one another, with the Sheffield Shield’s critical role in priming Test stars for their bid to wrestle the Border-Gavaskar Trophy off India revealed today.

Cricket Australia has announced four Shield rounds will be played before the Test summer opener against India on November 22, including the first two in a window free of any overlapping international commitments.

Thursday’s announcement of the summer’s domestic fixtures all but completes a 2024-25 schedule that has the men’s side’s quest to end a run of four consecutive Test series defeats to India at its forefront.

View the full 2024-25 Sheffield Shield fixture here

Unlike the three previous years that have seen white-ball World Cups run into November, there is clear air in Australia’s international program through the entire month of October when the Sheffield Shield season gets underway following an opening blitz of domestic 50-over matches.

Australia’s limited-overs tour of the United Kingdom ends on September 29. The national side are then not back in action until a three-match ODI and T20I home series against Pakistan from November 4-18.

None of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc or Steve Smith have played a single match in any of the previous three Shield seasons, while other leading Australian players have also seen windows to turn out for their states shrink amid cricket’s global schedule squeeze.

View the full 2024-25 men’s One-Day Cup fixture here

But most, if not all, of Australia’s current all-format players (a group that also includes Mitch Marsh, Travis Head and Cameron Green) could play multiple Shield matches in the early stages of this summer’s competition beginning October 8.

It creates some potentially mouth-watering contests.

The uber-aggressive Head and South Australian teammate Alex Carey could face off against some or all of the incumbent Test attack of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon when NSW host the Redbacks at Silverwater’s Cricket Central in the opening round.

How Smith fares at the top of the order for a Blues line-up (also featuring recruits Nic Maddinson and Josh Philippe) in early games against SA and then Victoria will be a further subplot after the veteran batter struggled in his new role on the New Zealand tour earlier this year.

Three-time defending champions Western Australia may be bolstered by allrounders Green and Marsh for the opening games of their title defence, the first coming against Queensland in what shapes as Marnus Labuschagne’s first match as full-time captain of the Bulls. 

Labuschagne and his predecessor Usman Khawaja could get a solid workout on a bouncy WACA Ground wicket against the likes of speedsters Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris – both eager to push their Test cases – ahead of taking on the Jasprit Bumrah-led Indian attack.

A second round that has a rematch of the ’23-24 Shield final as its highlight with WA hosting Tasmania could see further Test player involvement across the country too.

Although the availability of the big names through rounds three and four will taper given the overlap with home ODI and T20I series against Pakistan, the prioritisation of the India campaign could see certain players continue to feature in the Shield instead.

A prime candidate for that will be Green, a fulcrum of the Test team but currently only a fringe member of both white-ball sides. His focus on red-ball cricket last summer was identified as a major factor in a breakthrough century against NZ in Wellington in February.

The competition will lose more of its leading performers during that period due to back-to-back Australia A first-class games against India A in Mackay (from October 31) and at the MCG (from November 7).

The domestic 50-over competition will be played concurrently, with the tournament to kick off with six games in as many days in Sydney and Melbourne, leaving WA, SA, Tasmania and Queensland to play matches against each other at neutral venues.

The men’s one-day final will be held on the same weekend as the Women’s National Cricket League decider in early March.

Domestic access to major international grounds improves as the season progresses. Only two of the first 12 Shield games will be hosted by a current Test ground (MCG and Adelaide Oval to host), while the first 11 one-dayers are all being played at secondary venues.

But from mid-November there is a solid run of matches at the MCG (which hosts a second Shield match before Christmas, plus the Australia A-India A game), the SCG, Adelaide Oval and the Gabba (three Shield matches each for the season) either side of the blockbuster men’s and women’s international fixtures.

Perth’s Optus Stadium is not hosting any domestic cricket outside of the KFC BBL with WA hosting all their games at the WACA Ground, likewise with Tasmania at Blundstone Arena.

“We are … confident that scheduling games at a mixture of major stadiums and smaller venues will provide the best possible experiences for players and fans,” said CA’s head of operations and scheduling Peter Roach.

“We look forward to the beginning of our domestic season on September 22 and thank the State and Territory Associations and the Australian Cricketers’ Association for their ongoing support.”