http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/cricket/cricket-australia-officials-discussing-plan-to-shift-sheffield-shield-to-winter-to-give-twenty20-big-bash-room-for-expansion/story-e6frepmo-1226244403432?sv=b5fe29be23ac59a7b870a2840cf9bd11

So the boffins at Cricket Australia are considering shifting the Shield competition to the winter to allow the expansion of the BBL. Now I thought it was rather silly shunting all FC cricket during the Test series but now to push it back to the tail end of the AFL season just takes the cake.

Granted the BBL has been a success this year with crowds etc but will this irreparably damage FC cricket in Australia, not giving fringe players or dropped Test players a chance to find form during the main part of the summer after having played all their FC cricket in the winter? I know the Shield has been running at a loss for some time (which is hardly the point...its a breeding ground for Tests for decades) but surely this can't be good for Test cricket in this country. How exactly will the Shield sides pick players when there is no districts cricket at that time of the year? How will they prepare pitches/grounds during cooler and wetter times of the year? How are players going to adjust from going from winter style pitches to the harder decks of summer? Are players even going to care anymore about FC cricket?

I dont think this would have been as bad if they had stuck with State sides instead of franchises as they could have run the competitions concurrently but now in their chase for funds etc they have backed themselves into a corner and the Shield appears to be worse for it.

THoughts?
That's my thought too RSRD...too much influenced by the dollar signs that have been shining from India for a few years now. You need money to run an orginization, granted, but it can't come at the expense of the prime importance of Test cricket. I think this will be bad for it...but time will tell if they do actually implement this hairbrained idea.