MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) have given up on playing other state rivals in Australia's Sheffield Shield before Christmas after being barred from travelling due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Victoria and NSW will instead try to schedule three matches between each other in the country's first class competition, while rivals Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania play off elsewhere, a Cricket Australia website https://www.cricket.com.au/news/nsw-blues-new-south-wales-victoria-sheffield-shield-marsh-one-day-cup-ashes-schedule/2021-10-05 said on Tuesday.