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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

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 () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

from 1904 to 1910. For the 1906–07 inaugural season, the Shield was allotted by the New Zealand Cricket Council "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 City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

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

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

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 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, Canterbury,

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

and, on two occasions,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

. 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 Y ...

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 ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

and

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

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 (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 cricket, 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 competit ...

50-over competition known as the State Shield 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 stated that the naming rights were no longer for sale and that the competition would henceforth be known as the Plunket Shield. The final was abolished, meaning that the team with the most points at the end of the competition wins the title.

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. With no final, the team with the most points is declared the champion. The points system for the 2023/24 season was as follows: *Won: 12 points *Lost: 0 points *Draw: 0 points *Tie: 6 points *Abandoned (without a ball bowled) / No result (drawn one-innings match): 4 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 *Points may deducted for failing to bowl at least 15 overs per hour If two or more teams are equal at the end of the season, the team with more victories will prevail, and if that does not separate the teams, the team with the higher net average per wicket will prevail.

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, , – , - , , 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) , , , - , , 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 , , Canterbury , , Northern Districts , - , , 2021–22 , , Auckland , , Canterbury , - , , 2022–23 , , Central Districts , , Canterbury , - , , 2023–24 , , Wellington , , Northern Districts , - , , 2024–25 , , Northern Districts , , Wellington

Statistics

Top run scorers and wicket takers by season

Record for most runs and wickets in a single season

Most career runs

Highest batting averages

*up to end of 2024/25 season

Most career wickets

Best bowling averages

References

External links

Detailed photograph of the Plunket Shield
at '' Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand''
Plunket Shield
at

New Zealand Cricket 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plunket Shield New Zealand domestic cricket competitions First-class cricket competitions Sports leagues established in 1906 1906 establishments in New Zealand