With the winter months coming to an end and spring on the horizon, that means that cricket season is around the corner and the Marsh Sheffield Shield will be back again in 2021/22.
Queensland took out the title last year in the final against NSW, while the likes of Victoria and South Australia struggled down at the bottom of the table.
This year's competition will begin on September 28th, with the final scheduled for March 26th next year.
Things could be up in the air for the start of the season due to the ongoing COVID outbreaks across the country, which have mainly impacted those in NSW.
Here's everything you need to know about this year's Sheffield Shield season.
WHEN DOES THE 2021/22 SHEFFIELD SHIELD SEASON START?
This year's Sheffield Shield season will begin on September 28th, with two games taking place on that day and the final game of the first round the next day.
The competition will run up until late-November, before resuming in early-February.
The final is scheduled to begin on the 26th March next year.
SHEFFIELD SHIELD 2021/22 FIXTURE
| DATE | MATCH | VENUE |
| 28th September 2021 | Queensland vs Tasmania | Ian Healy Oval, Brisbane |
| 28th September 2021 | South Australia vs Western Australia | Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide |
| 29th September 2021 | Victoria vs New South Wales | CitiPower Centre, St Kilda |
| 14th October 2021 | South Australia vs New South Wales | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| 14th October 2021 | Western Australia vs Queensland | WACA Ground, Perth |
| 15th October 2021 | Victoria vs Tasmania | MCG, Melbourne |
| 25th October 2021 | Queensland vs South Australia | Riverway Stadium, Townsville |
| 26th October 2021 | Tasmania vs Western Australia | Blundstone Arena, Hobart |
| 26th October 2021 | New South Wales vs Victoria | Manuka Oval, Canberra |
| 6th November 2021 | New South Wales vs Western Australia | Bankstown Oval, Sydney |
| 6th November 2021 | Queensland vs Victoria | The Gabba, Brisbane |
| 7th November 2021 | Tasmania vs South Australia | Blundstone Arena, Hobart |
| 17th November 2021 | Victoria vs Western Australia | MCG, Melbourne |
| 17th November 2021 | New South Wales vs Tasmania | SCG, Sydney |
| 17th November 2021 | South Australia vs Queensland | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| 28th November 2021 | New South Wales vs Queensland | SCG, Sydney |
| 28th November 2021 | South Australia vs Victoria | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| 28th November 2021 | Western Australia vs Tasmania | WACA Ground, Perth |
| 6th February 2022 | Victoria vs Queensland | MCG, Melbourne |
| 6th February 2022 | Western Australia vs South Australia | WACA Ground, Perth |
| 7th February 2022 | Tasmania vs New South Wales | Blundstone Arena, Hobart |
| 16th February 2022 | Queensland vs Western Australia | The Gabba, Brisbane |
| 17th February 2022 | New South Wales vs South Australia | SCG, Sydney |
| 17th February 2022 | Tasmania vs Victoria | Blundstone Arena, Hobart |
| 5th March 2022 | South Australia vs Tasmania | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide |
| 5th March 2022 | Queensland vs New South Wales | The Gabba, Brisbane |
| 5th March 2022 | Western Australia vs Victoria | WACA Ground, Perth |
| 16th March 2022 | Victoria vs South Australia | CitiPower Centre, St Kilda |
| 16th March 2022 | Tasmania vs Queensland | Blundstone Arena, Hobart |
| 16th March 2022 | Western Australia vs New South Wales | WACA Ground, Perth |
| 26th March 2022 | TBA vs TBA (Final) | TBA |
SHEFFIELD SHIELD 2021/22 SQUADS
*Cricket Australia contracted players.
New South Wales squad 2021/22
Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Patrick Cummins*, Oliver Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hackney, Josh Hazlewood*, Liam Hatcher, Lachlan Hearne, Moises Henriques, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon*, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith*, Mitchell Starc*, Chris Tremain, David Warner*, Adam Zampa*. Rookies: Josh Baraba, Ryan Hadley, Jack Nisbett, Hunar Verma
NEW FACES: Oliver Davies, Lachlan Hearne, Baxter Holt, Tanveer Sangha
DEPARTED PLAYERS: Nick Larkin, Nathan McAndrew (SA), Arjun Nair, Daniel Solway
Queensland squad 2021/22
Xavier Bartlett, James Bazley, Joe Burns, Max Bryant, Blake Edwards, Sam Heazlett, Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne*, Michael Neser, Lachlan Pfeffer, Jimmy Peirson, Matt Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street, Mitch Swepson, Jack Wildermuth, Jack Wood. Rookies: Jack Clayton, Will Prestwidge, Connor Sully, Matthew Willans
NEW FACES: James Bazley, Will Prestwidge
DEPARTED PLAYERS: Brendan Doggett (SA), Nathan McSweeney (SA), Corey Hunter, Benji Floros
South Australia squad 2021/22
Wes Agar, Alex Carey*, Jake Carder, Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Ryan Gibson, David Grant, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Sam Kerber, Jake Lehmann, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Tim Oakley, Lloyd Pope, Kane Richardson*, Liam Scott, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Daniel Worrall. Rookies: Jordan Buckingham, Bailey Capel, Kyle Brazell, Corey Kelly, Thomas Kelly
NEW FACES: Brendan Doggett, Nathan McSweeney, Nathan McAndrew, Jake Carder, Sam Kerber, Ryan Gibson
DEPARTED PLAYERS: Callum Ferguson (retired), Chadd Sayers (retired), Tom Cooper, Brad Davis, Conor McInerney, Luke Robins, Cameron Valente
Tasmania squad 2021/22
Tom Andrews, Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Iain Carlisle, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Tim Paine*, Sam Rainbird, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk, Mac Wright, Matthew Wade, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Beau Webster. Rookies: Jarrod Freeman, Brad Hope, Mitch Owen, Nivethan Radhakrishnan
NEW FACES: Brad Hope, Nivethan Radhakrishnan
DEPARTED PLAYERS: Alex Doolan, Keegan Oates, Alex Pyecroft, Tom Rogers, Jack White
Victoria squad 2021/22
Scott Boland, Xavier Crone, Travis Dean, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch*, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Seb Gotch, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell*, Jonathan Merlo, Tom O'Connell, Wil Parker, James Pattinson*, Mitchell Perry, Will Pucovski, James Seymour, Matt Short, Will Sutherland. Rookies: Brody Couch, Sam Elliott, Tom Jackson, Cameron McClure, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill.
NEW FACES: James Seymour, Fergus O'Neill
DEPARTED PLAYERS: Patrick Rowe
Western Australia squad 2021/22
Ashton Agar*, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green*, Liam Guthrie, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Bryce Jackson, Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Lance Morris, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson*, Corey Rocchiccioli, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman. Rookies: Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Jayden Goodwin, Bryce Jackson
NEW FACES: Corey Rocchiccioli, Cooper Connolly, Bryce Jackson
DEPARTED PLAYERS: Jake Carder (SA), Brad Hope (TAS), Liam O'Connor