Twenty/20 and one-day fixtures have been pencilled in for December 27 and January 9 respectively.
Alexandra has not seen provincial cricket since the venue lost the right to host elite cricket at the end of the 2008-09 season. But Otago Cricket Association chief executive Ross Dykes is confident the ground "will come up to scratch".
"We've got a trial game scheduled there for late October, which will give it a good test," Dykes said.
"But all the work that has been done since the end of last summer by [new groundsman] Wayne Walker is on track. He just needs some good weather, of course, because the end of October is pretty early to get a pitch up."
With the first-class season getting under way on November 9, Dykes said Otago cricket could not delay the venue's trial any later. Also, with Otago Country playing in the first round of the Dunedin club one-day competition this summer, the ground would see a good level of cricket as early as October 2.
Pitch reports from those games should give a good indication of how the wicket was playing, Dykes said.
However, if the ground failed to regain its warrant of fitness, the rest of the region's cricket grounds could come under much more pressure, Dykes said.
"We have not finalised a contingency plan. There are a couple of other grounds which we could use but we have not gone into that too deeply, because we are very confident Molyneux Park will be OK.
"Suffice to say, we have grounds in Oamaru, Queenstown and Invercargill which could absorb some pressure if we need to, although we are putting pressure on them already."
Dunedin cricket fans will have to wait until March 3 before they can watch the Volts play in the city. The University Oval is out of commission for most of the summer while work to expand the ground is carried out. But three first-class games are scheduled for the Oval late in the summer.
While it was disappointing for the city, Dykes said a greater reward was in sight.
"Come February-March, we're going to have a cricket ground of real international quality and dimensions, and that augurs well for the future in terms of internationals in Dunedin. It is also an opportunity for us to take these high-quality domestic matches to the regions."
The partial demolition of the former Dunedin Art Gallery was expected to start this week, but work has been delayed so some of the equipment can be used in Christchurch to help with the clean-up after the recent earthquake.
OTAGO'S DRAW - 2010-2011
HRV Cup
December 4: v Wellington, Basin Reserve, Wellington (TV); December 8: v Northern Districts, Centennial Park, Oamaru (TV); December 10: v Auckland, Queens Park, Invercargill (TV); December 12: v Central Districts, Queens Park, Invercargill (TV); December 15: v Canterbury, QEII Park, Christchurch (TV); December 18: v Auckland, Colin Maiden Park, Auckland (TV); December 19: v Northern Districts, Blake Park, Mt Maunganui; December 22: v Central Districts, Pukekura Park, New Plymouth (TV); December 27: v Canterbury, Molyneux Park, Alexandra; December 29: v Wellington, Queenstown Events Centre; January 2: Final (TV).
One-day competition
January 9: v Wellington, Molyneux Park, Alexandra; January 12: v Canterbury, Queenstown Events Centre; January 16: v Central Districts, Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North; January 19: v Northern Districts, Queens Park, Invercargill; January 23: v Auckland, Centennial Park, Oamaru; January 27: v Northern Districts, Cobham Oval, Whangarei; January 30: v Auckland, Colin Maiden Park, Auckland; February 2: v Canterbury, Aorangi Park, Timaru; February 6, 9: Preliminary finals; February 13: Final (TV).
Plunket Shield
November 9-12: v Northern Districts, Queenstown Events Centre; November 16-19: v Auckland, Colin Maiden Park, Auckland; November 23-26: v Wellington, Basin Reserve, Wellington; February 17-20: v Canterbury, Queenstown Events Centre; February 24-27: v Central Districts, McLean Park, Napier; March 3-6: v Auckland, University Oval; March 10-13: v Central Districts, University Oval; March 20-23: v Canterbury, QEII Park, Christchurch; March 27-30: v Northern Districts, Seddon Park, Hamilton; April 3-6: v Wellington, University Oval.
