Cricket: T20 to make Eden Park outer oval comeback

Auckland Aces batsman Colin Munro in action at Eden Park outer oval in 2013. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Afternoon T20 matches are returning to Eden Park's outer oval, and clusters of games in one location over a weekend have been done away with in the domestic cricket schedule to be released today.

NZ Cricket has also unveiled Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth as a venue for Georgie Pie Super Smash games under lights this summer.

Central Districts will play Otago, Auckland and Canterbury at the home of Taranaki rugby, and the venue will also host the three-game finals weekend on December 11-13.

The idea of having a weekend of three games at one location, often involving games between neutral teams, has not worked, and major associations have been trying to get more bums on seats - or, in the outer oval's case, on the grass.

The T20 competition will have Auckland playing all four home games - they have six away - on the outer oval, three on a Sunday afternoon and on a late Wednesday afternoon.

How much emphasis the major associations place on the T20 competition without the lure of the now defunct Champions League will be of interest, although the better players will have an eye on the world T20 tournament in India at the end of the season.

The first-class Plunket Shield will again top and tail the domestic season, starting with two rounds in October, beginning on October 15 and going on to a single round in mid-December then running through from February 4 to April 2.

The 50-over Ford Trophy will start on December 28 and the final will be on January 30.