Matador Cup revamp with eye to the future

Less than four months after winning the 2015 Cricket World Cup on home soil, Cricket Australia is already looking ahead to the next instalment in four years' time by revamping this summer's Matador BBQs One-Day Cup.

The introduction of the Cricket Australia XI – a composite side assembled by uncontracted state players and national youth squad members – will see seven teams do battle in the country's most populous city – Sydney.

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The three-week tournament which marks the start of the cricket season returns to the harbour city in 2015-16 after hosting duties were shared with Brisbane last summer, commencing on October 5 and concluding with a second-verse-third elimination final on October 23 before the final two days later at North Sydney Oval.

Blacktown International Sports Park, Hurstville Oval, Drummoyne Oval, Bankstown Memorial Oval and North Sydney Oval – the same quintet that accommodated the country's best provincial cricketers two years ago – share the 23 limited-overs contests.

Fifteen of those 23 matches are scheduled to be broadcast on GEM in high-definition, with extended coverage available via cricket.com.au.

Reigning champions the Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors begin their title defence against Jamie Siddon's West End Redbacks, while New South Wales Blues welcome newcomers the CA XI and the MyFootDr Queensland Bulls tackle the Tasmanian Tigers.

Queensland and Tasmania return to North Sydney Oval for their opening clash, the venue where they smashed 800 runs and four centuries on a sunny afternoon last summer, with one of the triple-figure scores belonging to Tigers opener Ben Dunk, who's unbeaten 229 was Australia's first domestic 50-over double-century.

Video: Dunk's double-ton

Western Australia and NSW square off five days later in a replay of last year's final where the Blues will be looking to exact revenge on Justin Langer's men who claimed the title with a comprehensive 64-run win at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

With Australia's Test stars busy in Bangladesh for the entirety of the tournament, World Cup heroes Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins, along with former internationals Usman Khawaja, Nic Maddinson, Callum Ferguson and two-time reigning Player of the Tournament Cameron White will press their claims for a national recall.  

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While those men will be applying for higher honours, Australia's next generation of talented players will be exposed to the rigours of domestic cricket to fast-track their development in the CA XI team.

The CA XI outfit is a two-year trial and will be coached by Bupa National Cricket Centre Head Coach Troy Cooley and assisted by High Performance Coach and former England batsman Graeme Hick.

The 15-player squad will likely be comprised of state rookies and members of the National Performance Squad.

Over the last three seasons, on average one state contracted player and three rookies failed to play a single game of domestic cricket, providing a hole in the Cricket Australia talent pathway the new Matador Cup team hopes to fill.

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While the step up in competition will be a learning curve for his young charges, Cooley expects to see improvement throughout the campaign under the pressures of domestic cricket.

"You've got to make mistakes, but you've got to be in the right environment to make mistakes and then you've got to be smart enough to learn from your mistakes," said Cooley.

"We're really happy that the match opportunities that we first of all give them here (at the National Cricket Centre) during the winter are then extended in to the next step in to the real competition.

"We're looking for mistakes to be made but we're looking for kids to step up and be ready to go in to that professional life they're searching for and become great Australian players."

2015 Matador Cup fixtures home

Quick Singles

• Round robin tournament
• 23 matches in 21 days
• Each team plays six matches (one against each team)
• Highest placed team qualifies for the final, while second and third square off in an elimination final with the winner moving on
• Five day-night matches

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