New Zealand has had a domestic

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield.

History

The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in October 1906 with the donation of a shield by William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, who was the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the Viceroy, viceregal representative of the Monarchy of New Zealand, monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 ...

from 1904 to 1910. For the 1906–07 inaugural season, the Shield was allotted by the

New Zealand Cricket Council New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

"to the Association whose representative team it considers to have the best record for the season". After the Council awarded the Shield to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

, chiefly because Canterbury were the only provincial team to beat the visiting MCC,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

representatives complained that Auckland should have received the Shield as their team was superior but had not had the chance to prove it as none of the other provincial teams had played Auckland during the season. Beginning with the 1907–08 season, the competition was decided by challenge matches among Auckland,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

, Canterbury,

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and, on two occasions,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

. Auckland defeated Canterbury by an innings in the first challenge match in December 1907. A proposal in 1912 that the Shield should be decided by an inter-provincial tournament rather than by the challenge system was rejected as impracticable at the time. However, starting with the 1921–22 season, the four principal teams (minus Hawke's Bay, which lost first-class status) played each other in a single round-robin series of matches. Central Districts entered the competition in 1950–51, and Northern Districts in 1956–57.

Shell Trophy

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

became principal sponsor in 1974–75 and a new trophy was introduced. Games were played over three days during this period, with an over-limit on the first innings. In latter years the format was experimented with, introducing a shorter second round, various bonus points systems, and eventually a knockout final. During this period the Plunket Shield was contested in occasional games between the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

teams – they played a three-day match in December 1977 and one-day matches in the 1981–82, 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons.

State Championship

The format and the principal sponsor were changed in 2001–02 season.

State Insurance State Insurance is an insurance company based in New Zealand. , it is a business division of IAG New Zealand, a subsidiary of Insurance Australia Group. History State Insurance was formerly called the State Insurance Office. Previously, it had ...

(more commonly just called 'State') replaced Shell Oil. The competitions were renamed to reflect the new sponsor's name, so despite the fact that New Zealand does not have political 'states', the correct name for the first-class competition was the 'State Championship'. Each of the provincial teams played in a single round-robin series of four-day matches. There was a target of 112 overs in each day's play. After the round-robin the two highest-ranked teams played a five-day final. A

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

50-over competition known as the

State Shield The Ford Trophy is the main domestic List A limited overs cricket competition in New Zealand. Previous sponsor State Insurance did not renew naming rights in 2009, resulting in the competition being renamed the ''New Zealand Cricket one-day com ...

was run from late December to the end of January, culminating with a semi-final (second versus third) and final (the semi-final winner against the top qualifier) early in February. In 2006, a provincial Twenty20 competition was begun, and was played during February and early March. The top two sides qualified for the final. It was called the

State Twenty20 The Men's Super Smash, currently named the Dream11 Super Smash for sponsorship purposes until 2026, is a men's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in New Zealand. Since the 2018–19 season, the competition runs alongside the Women's Super Sma ...

Plunket Shield reinstated

When State Insurance withdraw from their sponsorship, the Plunket Shield was reinstated for the 2009–10 season. New Zealand Cricket has stated that the naming rights are no longer for sale and that the name Plunket Shield will remain. The final has also been abolished, meaning that the champion of the competition will be determined by the points leader at the end of the double round robin.Don Cameron, "Domestic Cricket in New Zealand, 2009-10", ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' 2011, pp. 995–1000.

Teams

Former teams

played twice in the Plunket Shield, in the 1914/15 and 1920/21 seasons, losing both matches.

Points system

Points are awarded at the conclusion of each match during the season. With no final, the team with the most points is declared the champion. The points system for the 2019/20 season is as follows *Won: 12 points *Lost: 0 points *Draw: 0 points *Tie: 6 points *One-innings match won (match that started with 10 hours or less playing time remaining): 6 points *One-innings match tie: 3 points *Abandoned (without a ball bowled) / No result (drawn one-innings match): 2 points *Batting points: First Innings only up to 110 overs – first point at 200 runs, second point at 250 runs, third point at 300 runs, fourth point at 350 runs *Bowling points: First Innings only up to 110 overs – first point at 3 wickets, second point at 5 wickets, third point at 7 wickets, fourth point at 9 wickets

Winners

The holders of the shield during its "challenge match" period to 1921 were: , - ! Season !! Holders !! Matches , - , , 1906–07 , ,

, , – , - , , 1907–08 , ,

, , 1 , - , , 1908–09 , , Auckland , , 2 , - , , 1909–10 , , Auckland , , 3 , - , , 1910–11 , , Auckland, Canterbury , , 2 , - , , 1911–12 , , Canterbury, Auckland , , 3 , - , , 1912–13 , , Auckland, Canterbury , , 3 , - , , 1913–14 , , Canterbury , , 4 , - , , 1914–15 , , Canterbury , , 4 , - , , 1915–18 , , no competition due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, , – , - , , 1918–19 , ,

, Canterbury , , 3 , - , , 1919–20 , , Canterbury, Auckland , , 3 , - , , 1920–21 , , Auckland, Wellington , , 3 From the 1921–22 season the competition has been run on a round robin format. , - ! Season !! Winner !! Runner-up , - , , 1921–22 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1922–23 , , Canterbury , , Wellington , - , , 1923–24 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1924–25 , , Otago , , Canterbury , - , , 1925–26 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1926–27 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1927–28 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1928–29 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1929–30 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1930–31 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 1931–32 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1932–33 , , Otago , , Canterbury , - , , 1933–34 , , Auckland , , Otago , - , , 1934–35 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 1935–36 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1936–37 , , Auckland , , Otago , - , , 1937–38 , , Auckland , , Otago , - , , 1938–39 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 1939–40 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 1940–45 , , (not contested due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

) , - , , 1945–46 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 1946–47 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1947–48 , , Otago , , Canterbury , - , , 1948–49 , , Canterbury , , Otago , - , , 1949–50 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1950–51 , , Otago , , Central Districts , - , , 1951–52 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 1952–53 , , Otago , , Central Districts , - , , 1953–54 , , Central Districts , , Auckland , - , , 1954–55 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1955–56 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 1956–57 , , Wellington , , Otago , - , , 1957–58 , , Otago , , Auckland , - , , 1958–59 , , Auckland , , Otago , - , , 1959–60 , , Canterbury , , Otago , - , , 1960–61 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1961–62 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1962–63 , , Northern Districts , , Wellington , - , , 1963–64 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1964–65 , , Canterbury , , Central Districts , - , , 1965–66 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1966–67 , , Central Districts , , Canterbury , - , , 1967–68 , , Central Districts , , Canterbury , - , , 1968–69 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 1969–70 , , Otago , , Central Districts , - , , 1970–71 , , Central Districts , , Wellington , - , , 1971–72 , , Otago , , Auckland , - , , 1972–73 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1973–74 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1974–75 , , Otago , , Canterbury , - , , 1975–76 , , Canterbury , , Otago , - , , 1976–77 , , Otago , , Central Districts , - , , 1977–78 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 1978–79 , , Otago , , Central Districts , - , , 1979–80 , , Northern Districts , , Wellington , - , , 1980–81 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 1981–82 , , Wellington , , Northern Districts , - , , 1982–83 , , Wellington , , Central Districts , - , , 1983–84 , , Canterbury , , Central Districts , - , , 1984–85 , , Wellington , , Auckland , - , , 1985–86 , , Otago , , Auckland , - , , 1986–87 , , Central Districts , , Otago , - , , 1987–88 , , Otago , , Auckland , - , , 1988–89 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1989–90 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 1990–91 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 1991–92 , , Central Districts & Northern Districts , , , - , , 1992–93 , , Northern Districts , , Otago , - , , 1993–94 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 1994–95 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1995–96 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 1996–97 , , Canterbury , , Otago , - , , 1997–98 , , Canterbury , , Northern Districts , - , , 1998–99 , , Central Districts , , Otago , - , , 1999–00 , , Northern Districts , , Auckland , - , , 2000–01 , , Wellington , , Northern Districts , - , , 2001–02 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 2002–03 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 2003–04 , , Wellington , , Canterbury , - , , 2004–05 , , Auckland , , Wellington , - , , 2005–06 , , Central Districts , , Wellington , - , , 2006–07 , , Northern Districts , , Canterbury , - , , 2007–08 , , Canterbury , , Wellington , - , , 2008–09 , , Auckland , , Central Districts , - , , 2009–10 , , Northern Districts , , Canterbury , - , , 2010–11 , , Canterbury , , Otago , - , , 2011–12 , , Northern Districts , , Central Districts , - , , 2012–13 , , Central Districts , , Otago , - , , 2013–14 , , Canterbury , , Otago , - , , 2014–15 , , Canterbury , , Auckland , - , , 2015–16 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 2016–17 , , Canterbury , , Northern Districts , - , , 2017–18 , , Central Districts , , Wellington , - , , 2018–19 , , Central Districts , , Canterbury , - , , 2019–20 , , Wellington , , Central Districts , - , ,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, , Canterbury , , Northern Districts , - , , 2021–22 , , Auckland , , Canterbury

Statistics

Top run scorers and wicket takers by season

Record for most runs and wickets in a single season

References

External links

Detailed photograph of the Plunket Shield
at '' Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand''
Plunket Shield
at New Zealand Cricket {{DEFAULTSORT:Plunket Shield New Zealand domestic cricket competitions First-class cricket competitions Sports leagues established in 1906 1906 establishments in New Zealand