Smith in Adelaide for T20 showcase

Ten teams from around Australia will converge on Adelaide this week for the finals of the Fox Cricket National Premier Twenty20 competition.

All eyes will be on the Karen Rolton Oval precinct on March 5 and 6 as Premier Cricket clubs battle it out for the inaugural title and bragging rights as the best T20 team in Australia.

NT Strike League champions City Cyclones were the first team to qualify last year, before Melville became the final qualifier when they won the WA state competition on February 3.

Other state winners that will feature in Adelaide are Dandenong (Victoria), East Torrens (South Australia), North Hobart (Tasmania), Sutherland (NSW), Tuggeranong Valley (ACT) and University of Queensland (QLD), along with a second team from NSW (Sydney University) and Victoria (Carlton).

Four of the matches will be live streamed, including one of the semi-finals and the grand final, on cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, cricket.com.au’s YouTube channel and the MyCricket Facebook page.

While Steve Smith played a part in helping Sutherland to the NSW title, the former Australia captain is still nursing an elbow injury he picked up while playing in the Bangladesh Premier League and won't be playing in Adelaide.

Smith will travel with the team though and it has been confirmed that the 29-year-old will coach Sutherland during the two-day T20 showpiece event.

"Obviously we would have loved Smithy to have played for us, so he is a big out, but having him down in Adelaide as coach will be fantastic for our team," Sutherland team manager Tom Iceton told the Adelaide Advertiser last week.

"He's obviously got a lot of T20 experience and to have him there providing advice will be a great help to our boys. When I let the team know Steve was going to coach them they were all very excited."

Smith hit a valuable 42no against St George in Sutherland's penultimate game of the NSW qualifiers in December and then made an impact with bat and ball against Sydney University in the final at the SCG.

The former Australia captain will return from his year-long suspension at the end of this month and is expected to resume in the IPL for the Rajasthan Royals.

"He (Smith) always wanted to come to Adelaide but he wasn't sure how he was going to be placed but he gave me the good news and I was able to pass that on to the boys," Iceton added.

"He really embraced being back playing with the club in the first half of the season, playing everything up until Christmas, and he was particularly excited when we won the T20 competition because that was the first premiership he's won with the club.

"Steve only knew a couple of the guys at the start of the season but he's got to know them all very well now and it's going to be great to have him with us."

A live draw is scheduled for the evening of Monday March 4, with the opening round of competition to take place at the Karen Rolton Oval precinct on the morning of Tuesday March 5.

All teams will be back in action for the second round that afternoon, before the top four clubs qualify for the semi-finals on the morning of Wednesday March 6.

The final will then be held from 2:30pm (local time) on the afternoon of Wednesday March 6, with cricket.com.au to live stream the title decider as one of four matches from Karen Rolton Oval over the two days.