The New Zealand domestic season will begin on October 19 with the first round of the Plunket Shield followed by men's and women's one-day competitions starting in late November.

Four rounds of the Plunket Shield will be played until mid-November then the tournament resumes in mid-March with the last round taking place in the first week of April.

Other than the New Zealand players involved at the IPL all centrally contracted names are set to be involved in the opening rounds of the Plunket Shield.

The Ford Trophy, the men's one-day competition, will involve six rounds before the T20 Super Smash starts in December and then resume in February with the final on March 5.

The women's Hallyburton Johnstone Shield will also include six rounds before the Super Smash with the final slated for March 28.

All the domestic tournaments will follow Covid-19 protocols which have been established around the world including a ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball and the umpires not holding players' caps and sweaters.

"The new rules also allow for the replacement of players displaying symptoms of Covid-19 during a match, with the option for the player to return to the game following a negative result," NZC head of cricket operations Richard Brewer said.

"These measures will be overseen by the match referee and match officials, and have already been successfully piloted in pre-season warm-up fixtures between domestic men's sides.

"After the impact of Covid-19 on the back end of last season, I think we all feel truly grateful to be able to play sport and offer New Zealanders the chance to see so many quality players and matches this summer.

The New Zealand international season is due to begin on November 27 with the first of three T20Is against West Indies which will be followed by two Tests. So far, NZC has been granted government approval for tours by West Indies and Pakistan while they have also announced men's fixtures against Bangladesh and Australia next year which they are confident will be given the green light.

There is also set to be a visit by the England women's team in February with the hope that Australia will be able to join to make a tri-series.