New South Wales named Sheffield Shield champions after coronavirus cancels season
Tuesday 17 March 2020 19:21, UK
New South Wales have been named Sheffield Shield champions after the 2019-20 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sheffield Shield's final round of league matches were abandoned due to the outbreak and the final, set to take place in Wollongong between March 27-31, has followed suit.
New South Wales were 12 points ahead of second-placed Victoria in the table and 14 ahead of third-placed Queensland after six wins from nine games in the regular season of Australia's first-class competition.
Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said: "After round nine, five of the six states were still in contention to win the Shield, which was fantastic.
"But we did have New South Wales 12 points clear at the top of the table. That probably made our decision-making a little easier, given that they had such a gap on the field."
New South Wales coach Phil Jacques added: "This is not how we wanted to win the title but we fully understand and support the decision to abandon the last round and the final."
New South Wales' title is their 47th in Sheffield Shield history but first since 2013-14, with Victoria having won four of the previous five championships.
