Last season Max was played as a double round-robin with a final starting in November and finishing in February; this summer it will make up just one complete round and a final during November and December.

New Zealand's leading players will also be ineligible for the series. NZC has decided players in the Shell Conference four-day tournament will be better served not playing Max. Cricket Max, which is promoted by former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, has caused much debate.

``It was felt that the conference series was preparing the players for the upcoming international season and we didn't want then chopping and changing their games,'' Murdoch said.

The next tier of provincial players will make up the Max teams, with the series played over weekends with a Friday night and two Sunday games perhaps televised.

Murdoch said last season it appeared interest dropped off in Max after Christmas when international cricket was on.

``It's a matter of finding the right time frame to display the product and November-December shapes as the best time we feel.''

He said Max remained an important ingredient of NZC's domestic programme of introducing a younger market to the sport. It has also provided extra money for player payments and television exposure on Sky, which needed a live sport on summer weekend evenings to attract viewers.

Meanwhile, the Shell Cup championship will be retained as a double round-robin with play-offs but there will be a breathing space in the latter stages of the contest this summer.

Last season the format was played straight through from Boxing Day to the final on January 24 and the players found the schedule gruelling. This season there is likely to be a break, with a final scheduled for Waitangi Day on February 6.