Northern Knights fans in the Bay can look forward to two home matches under lights at the Bay Oval this summer in the Burger King Super Smash competition.

And on one of those occasions they will be joined by the Northern Spirit in a mouth-watering T20 double-header as the men's and women's domestic Twenty20 leagues run side-by-side over the Christmas period for the first time.

The two teams will meet their Central Districts counterparts, the Hinds and Stags, in a post-Christmas holiday festival of white-ball action on Thursday December 27^th. The Knights will begin their game at 7pm and finish under lights, with the women playing earlier in the day.

The Otago Volts will be in town for the second of the Knights' Bay Oval dates, on Saturday February 9^th, also with a 7pm start.

Seddon Park will host the remaining three home matches for the Knights in the Super Smash.

They open the competition on Saturday December 22 at the Hamilton ground, also in a double-header with the Spirit against the Wellington Blaze and Firebirds.

They follow that with another double-header against the Auckland teams, the Hearts and Aces, on Sunday January 6, and the Knights then take on the Canterbury Kings on Wednesday January 16.

The Super Smash finals will happen on Friday and Sunday February 15 and 17.

The Bay Oval can also look forward to a four-day Plunket Shield match, as Northern Districts take on Otago beginning Wednesday October 10.

On the down side for Bay cricket fans, however, Northern will not be crossing the Kaimai for any of their Ford Trophy 50 over matches.

Seddon Park will host three of the matches and Cobham Oval in Whangarei gets one, while one will be played at Canterbury's Lincoln University.