Melbourne, March 16 (IANS): The final of Australia's top domestic first-class cricket competition - the Sheffield Shield - will be held at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, also known by its sponsored name Blundstone Arena. The summit clash will be held between Victoria and Western Australia from March 21 to 25.

Victoria finished on top of the Shield points table to earn the right to host the final. With the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) unavailable due to the World Cup, Cricket Victoria (CV) nominated Bellerive Oval as its venue, given it does not have an alternative first-class venue in the state currently capable of staging the final.

Meanwhile, they are re-developing the Junction Oval to serve as a future first-class venue as an alternative to the MCG.

“We have nominated Blundstone Arena as our preferred venue to host the Sheffield Shield final. The MCG would have been our first preference but the World Cup requirements mean it is unavailable in this period," CV chief executive Tony Dodemaide said.

"The Junction Oval in St. Kilda will in future be our alternative venue in Victoria once it is redeveloped as the Victorian Cricket and Community Centre but is not acceptable as a first-class venue in its current condition."

Dodemaide added: “We explored all our options and Blundstone Arena, being a high quality international standard ground and available next week after its recent World Cup matches, was the best fit. We are grateful for the assistance of Cricket Tasmania in coming to this solution and look forward to a successful event.”