New Zealand State Championship
From Wiki Cricket
The State Championship is a first class domestic cricket competition held in New Zealand every year.It was first played in the year 1906 and was known as the Plunket shield then ,as the shield was donated by William Plunket,Governer General of New Zealand.The Championship became to be addressed as Shell Cup from 1974-1975 season when the sponsership changed to Shell Oil.It was from 2000-2001 season that the current format and the sponser came into being.The current sponser is State Bank.
The Championship follows a Round Robin format followed by the finals.During the competition the various provinces of New Zealand play each other twice in a four day match.The teams that are placed in the 1st and the 2nd position play the 5 day final.When the competition was established only Auckland ,Wellington,Otago,Caterbury and Hawke's Bay participated.It was only during the 1950s that the Central Districts and Northern Districts started taking part in the competition by then Hawkes's Bay was removed from the competition as they had lost their Test Status.
