Claxton Shield - Season Structure

Season Structure

The Claxton Shield has followed numerous formats over the years. The original format saw a round-robin tournament used, with each of the three participating teams playing each other once over the course of a week. The tournament would be hosted in a single city, though in some cases multiple grounds were used for individual games, the team with the most wins being declared the winner. With the expansion to four teams in 1937, the addition of a final was made, with the top two teams playing in a championship game. Though there were many variations in the fine details from year to year, particularly when a team was added or removed from the competition, the basic concept of a round-robin followed by a final was continued through to the final Claxton Shield before the start of the Australian Baseball League in 1988. When the International Baseball League of Australia collapsed and the Claxton Shield resumed in its own right in 2003, the original format was continued.

The 2008 Claxton Shield saw a new format for the tournament. A home and away season was introduced, splitting the six participating teams into two divisions of three teams each. The teams played within their own divisions, meeting both other teams twice for a three game series: one series at home, one away. The division leaders then met in a best of three final series for the championship.

2009 marked the 75th anniversary of the inaugural Claxton Shield, and so a mix of old and new was used. A showcase round was held in Sydney, where each team met each other team once. After this, each team met each other once again for a three game series on a home and away basis, much the same as the previous season. The finals series was expanded to allow three teams to reach the playoffs. The second and third placed teams met in a best of three series, the winner of which met the first placed team.

The 2010 season eliminated the showcase round, and used a double round-robin format: each team met each other team twice—once at home, once away—each time for a three game series, resulting in each team playing 24 games over ten rounds before the finals series, the most for any Claxton Shield season. The three team playoff structure was kept. This season structure was seen as a template for the relaunch of the Australian Baseball League the following season: the only likely changes being the expansion to six teams meaning no bye rounds for any teams, and the possible change from a three game series each round to a four game series.