The upcoming Cricket Illawarra season will feature 18 rounds of one-day matches, each team playing each other twice before 50-over finals in March.

The association has cited COVID-19 concerns for the removal of two-day games, with one-day games introduced in an attempt to maximise flexibility should the virus have an impact on the season.

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Defending champions Northern Districts were supportive of the move, with captain Jackson Stewart confident it will add a new dynamic to the competition.

"I'm a big fan," Stewart said. "I think we should do it every year. It means you play every team twice, which is a positive thing and puts everyone on equal footing.

"It also tests the depth of each team, you need five to six bowlers each week and challenges you to improve your skills because you're more likely to have a bat.

"It should also help with getting more people involved around work availability and providing opportunities to juniors coming through."

Balgownie have dominated the longer format throughout the past 15 years, the squad grinding their opponents down throughout two long and intense days of play.

While red balls will still be used in the competition, standard one-day rules will apply. That will prevent the likes of Jamie Fleming bowling 20 or 30 overs and will test each team's bowling depth.

The Balgownie president supports the move towards one-day matches for the coming summer, however he said the intensity of two-day cricket will be missed at the business-end of the season.

"It's the way we have to go," Fleming said. "Two-day cricket makes things more difficult and it's good the clubs jumped on board.

"Winning a two-day final is a big thing, there's a lot more prestige in it, rather than a one-day final. Bally won a few one-day titles and they didn't mean as much.

"We all want to play one-day cricket, but want to win two-day finals. I don't think you can play one-day games all year, then a two-day final."

With the Cricket Illawarra first grade competition meandering along without much growth in recent years, most clubs accept the association has to mix things up to reinvigorate the sport.

The plans for a combined Illawarra-South Coast Twenty20 tournament have fallen through, the two associations unable to agree on dates.

The short format will still kickstart the Illawarra season on Saturday October 3, with a final draw expected to be released in the coming days. Round one of the 50-over competition will commence on October 17.

University captain Mitchell Hearn is supportive of the push for one-day cricket to become permanent, however he cautioned against elevating the importance of Twenty20 cricket.

"I think this will be a good change," Hearn said. "It makes a lot of sense given the current climate. I've always enjoyed two-day cricket, but more than happy to play one-day games.

"It makes a lot of sense moving forward to stay with a one-day competition. With us at Uni, it can be hard to string the same team together two weeks in a row. I wouldn't like to see purely Twenty20 games, but a one-day competition is good."