Plunket Shield 2025-26

The 2025/26 Plunket Shield, New Zealand's domestic first-class competition, will begin on November 18. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has confirmed that this will be the tournament's 100th season, with the eighth and final round starting on March 27.

The 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 Lord Plunket, Governor of New Zealand, and was awarded to Canterbury as the association with the best record that season.

The men's domestic first-class competition began in the summer of 1921–22, with the Plunket Shield being competed for on a seasonal basis, comprising four of today's six major associations, with Central Districts (1950–51) and Northern Districts (1956–57) being added later.

Plunket Shield 2025-26 Teams

• Auckland
• Otago
• Northern Knights
• Central Districts
• Wellington
• Canterbury

Plunket Shield 2025-26 Venue

• Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland
• Basin Reserve, Wellington
• Seddon Park, Hamilton
• Hagley Oval, Christchurch
• Saxton Oval, Nelson
• McLean Park, Napier
• University Oval, Dunedin
• Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
• FitzHerbert Park, Palmerston North
• Manpower Oval, Rangiora
• Cobham Oval (New), Whangarei
• John Davis Oval, Queenstown

Plunket Shield 2025-26 Teams

Auckland

Cam Fletcher, Glenn Phillips, Sean Solia, Harjot Johal, Michael Schlanders, Quinn Sunde, William O'Donnell, Jock McKenzie, Matt Gibson, Simon Keane, Lockie Ferguson, Louis Delport, Aditya Ashok, Danru Ferns, Angus Oliver, Bevon Jacobs, Jordan David Sussex

Wellington

Devon Conway, Tom Blundell, Gareth Severin, Tim Robinson, Troy Johnson, Nick Greenwood, Callum McLachlan, Liam Dudding, Muhammad Abbas, Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra, Nick Kelly, Nathan Smith, Jesse Tashkoff, James Hartshorne, Adam Milne, Ben Sears, Peter Younghusband, Logan van Beek, Michael Snedden, Ian McPeake

Canterbury

Tom Latham, Mitchell Hay, Chad Bowes, Leo Carter, Henry Nicholls, Ken McClure, Matthew Boyle, Cole McConchie, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Rippon, Henry Shipley, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Michael Ray, Kyle Jamieson, William O'Rourke, Fraser Sheat, Jack Foulkes, Sean Davey, Edward Nuttall, Cameron Paul, Angus McKenzie

Otago

Max Chu, Leo Carter, Dale Phillips, Dean Foxcroft, Jake Gibson, Louis Johnson, Jack Cumming, Matthew Bacon, Jacob Cumming, Travis Mueller, Jarrod McKay, Ben Lockrose, Jamal Todd, Andrew Hazeldine, Thorne Parkes

Northern Districts

Joe Clarke, Kane Williamson, Kean Clarke, Josh Brown, Ben Pomare, Fergus Lellman, Bharat Popli, Jeet Raval (captain), Henry Cooper, Brett Hampton, Snehith Reddy Devireddy, Frederick Walker, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Matthew Fisher, Kristian Clarke, Scott Johnston

Central Districts

Dane Cleaver, Curtis Heaphy, Will Young, Tom Bruce, Jack Boyle, Mason Hughes, Doug Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, William Clarke, Brad Schmulian, Raymond Tool, Jayden Lennox, Blair Tickner, Joey Field, Brett Randell, Ajaz Patel, Toby Findlay, Ewald Schrader

How to watch Plunket Shield 2025-26

TVNZ and SENZ are listed as NZC's broadcast partners, although there is no current evidence they will broadcast live Plunket Shield matches. NZC's primary platform remains the nzc.nz digital channel.

Spark Sport previously held the rights to broadcast New Zealand domestic cricket, including other formats such as the Super Smash and the Ford Trophy Final – but there has been no confirmation of coverage by Spark Sport.