2017–18 Sheffield Shield season 2017–18 Sheffield Shield season The 2017–18 Sheffield Shield season was the 116th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in Australia. It started on 26 October 2017 and finished on 27 March 2018. The opening round of matches were played as day/night fixtures and the first three rounds of matches took place before the Ashes series. Victoria were the defending champions. In round two of the competition, Mitchell Starc became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in each innings of a first-class cricket match in Australia. He became the second Australian, and the eighth bowler overall,
Sheffield Park cricket ground Sheffield Park cricket ground Sheffield Park is a cricket ground at the Sheffield Park estate, located near Uckfield, East Sussex, England. From 1881 to 1896 it was the home ground of Lord Sheffield's XI, organised by Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, who in 1891 donated £150 to the New South Wales Cricket Association which was used to purchase a plate and establish the competition known as the Sheffield Shield. Cricket had been played at the ground for the previous 30 years before 1881, but these matches were unrecorded. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1881, when