Chappell-Hadlee trophy back up for grabs

The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will this weekend be contested for the first time in more than four years when New Zealand host Australia in their crucial Cricket World Cup match in Auckland.

The trophy has been in Cricket Australia's Jolimont office since Australia beat the Black Caps in Nagpur at the 2011 World Cup, the last time the trophy was contested between the two sides.

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Ricky Ponting holds the Chappell-Hadlee trophy after the 2011 World Cup clash // Getty Images

They have met just once in one-day internationals since then; a washed out match at Edgbaston at the 2013 Champions Trophy in the UK.

The trophy was not put on the line on that occasion, something New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive Officer David White has labelled "an oversight".

With the two sides to meet at Eden Park on Saturday night – a match that seems destined to decide who finishes top in Pool A – both countries have agreed to contest the trophy again.

"It is not as if either side needs any added incentive when playing each other, but the fact the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy is on the line on Saturday certainly provides it," Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said.

"The trophy is named after two of our great cricketing families and so to have it at stake in this highly anticipated match is entirely appropriate.

"Australia and New Zealand are two of the most in-form sides in world cricket at the moment and matches between us have invariably produced excitement and drama.

"I do not expect Saturday's action to be any different and I think everyone is looking forward to the match-up between two attack-minded sides."

The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was introduced in 2004 and contested at least once a year until the Nagpur clash in 2011.

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The unveiling Of The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in 2004 // Getty Images

In 2009, CA said it could not commit to an annual series due to the packed international schedule, which is complicated further by the fact the two sides share the same summer.

Sutherland said he would work closely with White and NZC to ensure the two sides play ODIs more frequently in the future.

"We are due to play Test cricket against each other next summer and we are examining the schedule to see what options we have for playing each other in One-Day Internationals on a more regular basis in the future," said Sutherland.

The two sides are already scheduled to play two three-match Test series in the 2015-16 season; in Australia at the start of the summer and then the return series in New Zealand in the new year. 

The series in Australia is also expected to feature the first ever day-night Test match.  

"It is crazy we haven't played them more," White told stuff.co.nz.

"We are coming to the end of the current future tours programme.

"In the next cycle we will be playing them more and that will be announced in the next couple of months.

"We are playing them in three Tests at the end of the year and then they are coming to us for three Tests as well. There is some one-day cricket as well coming up.

"We'd love to play Australia more, they are consistently one of the best teams in the world, and they are our neighbours, but the reality is we share the same summer so it can be challenging from a scheduling point of view."

New Zealand won the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee game in December 2004, winning by four wickets under the roof at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium.

But Australia hold the edge overall; they have won 11 matches to NZ's nine with two no results and have won four series to NZ's one.

The last time the trophy was contested as a series was in 2010, when Australia won 3-2 in a five-match rubber in New Zealand.