Plunket Shield
The competition was instigated in 1906 with the donation of a shield by William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket, the Governor-General of New Zealand. In its early years, the competition was decided by a series of challenge matches between five provincial Cricket Association sides, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and, on just two occasions, Hawke's Bay. The first winner was Canterbury. From the 1921–22 season, these sides (minus Hawke's Bay, which lost first-class status) played each other in a single round-robin series of matches. Central Districts entered the competition in 1950-51, and Northern Districts in 1956-57.
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Famous quotes containing the word shield:
“The lichen on the rocks is a rude and simple shield which beginning and imperfect Nature suspended there. Still hangs her wrinkled trophy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)