Nessie snedden

ICC World Test Championship: The 2025/26 Plunket Shield, New Zealand’s domestic first-class competition, will begin on November 18. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) confirmed it will be the 100th season of the tournament, with the eighth and final round to start from March 27.

Plunket Shield was first introduced in 1906 and has been played in a round-robin format since 1921/22. “The Plunket Shield was first awarded in 1906, by the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Plunket, and was given to Canterbury as the association with the best record that season.”

“The 1921-22 summer was the start of the men's domestic first-class competition as we know it, with the Plunket Shield competed for on a seasonal basis featuring four of today's six Major Associations, with Central Districts (1950-51) and Northern Districts (1956-57) later additions.”