Sheffield Shield final venue confirmed after AFL steps in

The Sheffield Shield final will be played at Karen Rolton Oval after a push to get Adelaide Oval ready for the showpiece cricket game was blocked by the Australian Football League (AFL).

Plans to get drop-in pitches reinstalled at Adelaide Oval following an AFL match on March 22 were being led by South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas in the hope SA could host the Shield final at the iconic venue from March 24-28.

The venue would then have been football ready again for another AFL match on March 30. But ultimately the AFL, which has rights to the ground from March 15 each year, had the final say amid concerns over player safety.

The five-day final will remain in its current March 26-30 timeslot at Karen Rolton Oval, where SA play their final-round match against Queensland beginning tomorrow.

"We are disappointed South Australia has been prevented from hosting the Sheffield Shield final at Adelaide Oval," Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said.

"The Sheffield Shield final is a significant event for Australia's national sport, and we believe Adelaide Oval would have been the most appropriate venue.

"I would like to thank Premier Malinauskas for his advocacy in this matter and his passionate support of cricket and the South Australia Cricket Association which made an extremely compelling case to host the final at Adelaide Oval.

"March is a very important month for cricket including the Sheffield Shield and Premier and club cricket finals.

"We will continue to work collaboratively at all levels to ensure cricket gains and provides appropriate access to shared venues across the country."

SA secured hosting rights for the final with a game to spare after taking an unassailable 15-point lead at the top of the standings with a four-wicket victory over Victoria in the previous Shield round.

There had been optimism that the ground's renowned head curator Damian Hough could pull off the ambitious plan to get cricket pitches in and out for the Shield final, in which SA are hoping to become champions for the first time in 29 years.

The transfer would have taken place immediately after the Port Adelaide-Richmond game, a twilight match set to end around 7.15pm local time on March 22.

The Shield final would then have been brought forward to start on March 24 to allow time to remove the wicket block and grow the outfield's grass back longer (cricket typically requires a shorter cut) before the Adelaide-North Melbourne game on March 30.

One of the sticking points in negotiations was the number of pitches that would have been dropped in; a regular Adelaide Oval wicket square has eight strips, but three pitches, or even one solitary pitch, could have been dropped in for the match.

It would have marked the first Sheffield Shield final at a major Test ground in 13 years. CA has been eager to increase leading domestic players' exposure to those venues.

The football codes' creep earlier into autumn to begin their seasons is a threat to that, though the AFL and CA have generally worked collaboratively.

The Adelaide Crows for instance have trained at Adelaide Oval in recent weeks, before the formal handover from cricket to football at the venue.

State government legislation gives SACA unrestricted access for cricket between October 8 and March 14 each year, with football through the SANFL (South Australian National Football League) gaining control from March 15 to October 7.

SACA chair Will Rayner said the organisation respected that "the ultimate decision regarding the use of Adelaide Oval in this instance was not (theirs) to make".

"SACA is disappointed not to be able to host the Sheffield Shield final at our traditional home of cricket," he added.

"We were confident in our ability to satisfy every demand made of us with regards to player safety and financial indemnity.

"Our focus now turns to the exciting opportunity to become the first SA team to win the one-day and Shield competitions in the same year. We look forward to hosting the final, and welcoming thousands of South Australian cricket fans to Karen Rolton Oval."

CA incidentally announced this week that the MCG would host an Australia-England Test in early March 2027 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the inaugural Test in 1877.

Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 South Australia Men SA	10	6	1	3	0	0	7.61	9	55.61
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	3	3	4	0	0	9.06	8.7	39.76
3 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	5	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	39.49
4 NSW Men NSW	10	3	4	3	0	0	6.99	8.4	36.39
5 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	3	5	2	0	0	7.72	8.2	35.92
6 Western Australia Men WA	10	3	4	3	0	0	5.83	8.6	35.43

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points