March's inaugural tournament, to be played in Adelaide, will feature winners of each state and territory's Premier T20 league in a two-day carnival as well as a second team from NSW and Victoria.

David Warner's Northern Territory side the City Cyclones have already qualified, potentially paving the way for the suspended opener to play in the CA-sanctioned event, while Steve Smith is also playing in Sydney.

The health of grade cricket and the disconnect between it and higher levels of the game was a key component of last week's Longstaff review into the state of the game in the country.

"Ultimately for the health of the game you need premier cricket strong," CA's pathways manager and one-time Test wicketkeeper Graham Manou told AAP.

"You talk to a lot of past players and obviously current players, premier cricket is something that is held quite dear to them."

CA is also hopeful the competition can help return a number of former domestic players back to their club sides for the local T20 tournaments.

Each state has already had its own T20 league for much of the past decade.

A key recommendation of the Longstaff review centred on ensuring elite players return to play at least one grade game per summer in a bid to help the development of up-and-coming youngsters and their own grounding.

While players of previous eras were more available to grade cricket, the cluttered schedule at both an international and domestic level has made that a far rarer occurrence in recent years.

"That was one of the main drivers of the national championship, it was to work with the states to ... allow clubs and players a period of time through December and January to put their hands up and re-engage," Manou said.

"We've seen some great numbers of past players come back through the Australian Cricketers' Association's past player program.

"This is another opportunity that opens the door for perhaps some older guys who have retired form first-class cricket and have got other responsibilities now."

Australian Associated Press