Essex to start defence of men’s County Championship title at home in remodelled competition

Essex will begin their defence of the men’s County Championship title at home to Worcestershire on Thursday, April 8.

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced the fixtures and dates for the remodelled competition, which are listed below.

Somerset are set to make an immediate return to Lord’s, where they met Essex in this summer’s Bob Willis Trophy final, with an opening-round clash against Middlesex.

Fixtures for the remaining domestic women’s and men’s white-ball competitions are set to be announced in early 2021.

The First-Class Counties agreed in October to reshape the Men’s County Championship structure for next summer only to help mitigate against the possible impact of COVID-19.

Each First-Class County has initially been placed into one of three seeded groups of six and has been scheduled to play five home matches and five away matches during the Group Stage.

The opening nine rounds of Group Stage matches are to be played on consecutive weeks and all are due to begin on a Thursday with a scheduled Sunday finish.

The Group Stage will conclude in July with the Round 10 and 11 matches to begin on a Sunday. All the First-Class Counties will play in the final round of Group Stage fixtures.

The top two counties in each group, at the end of the Group Stage, will progress to Division One, with the other counties moving into Divisions Two and Three, where they will each play a further four matches.

The winner of Division One will be crowned the 2021 County Championship winners.

The opening round of Divisional Stage matches will begin on the Bank Holiday Monday, August 30.

The five-day Bob Willis Trophy final will be played between the top two counties in Division One and is scheduled to start on Monday, September 27.

ECB Managing Director of County Cricket, Neil Snowball, said: “We’re all looking forward to the return of the County Championship in 2021 after a very challenging year in 2020.

“Despite the significant hurdles that we faced this year, the domestic game still found a way to play meaningful cricket across men’s and women’s formats while ensuring that our members and supporters were able to remain close to the game through advanced live streaming of matches.

“Once again we have seen an innovative and collaborative approach between the ECB and the 18 First Class Counties that has enabled us to plan for 2021 with a new, County Championship structure for 2021 only, that is designed to be both exciting for players and supporters and also flexible to the possible ongoing impact of COVID-19.

“We are also working hard with all 18 First-Class Counties to ensure that we are able to welcome the return of crowds safely next year and will continue to work closely with Government and all relevant authorities.”

County Championship Group Stage fixtures (group in brackets)

Thursday, April 8

Northamptonshire vs Kent, The County Ground (3)

Essex vs Worcestershire, The Cloudfm County Ground (1)

Sussex vs Lancashire, The 1st Central County Ground (3)

Middlesex vs Somerset, Lord’s (2)

Leicestershire vs Hampshire, Grace Road (2)

Gloucestershire vs Surrey, Bristol County Ground (2)

Nottinghamshire vs Durham, Trent Bridge (1)

Yorkshire vs Glamorgan, Emerald Headingley (3)

Warwickshire vs Derbyshire, Edgbaston (1)

Thursday, April 15

Hampshire vs Middlesex, Ageas Bowl (2)

Lancashire vs Northamptonshire, Emirates Old Trafford (3)

Kent vs Yorkshire, Canterbury (3)

Glamorgan vs Sussex, Sophia Gardens (3)

Somerset vs Gloucestershire, The Cooper Associates County Ground (2)

Derbyshire vs Worcestershire, The Incora County Ground (1)

Essex vs Durham, The Cloudfm County Ground (1)

Nottinghamshire vs Warwickshire, Trent Bridge (1)

Surrey vs Leicestershire, Kia Oval (2)

Thursday, April 22

Sussex vs Yorkshire, The 1st Central County Ground (3)

Durham vs Derbyshire, Emirates Riverside (1)

Kent vs Lancashire, Canterbury (3)

Worcestershire vs Nottinghamshire, New Road (1)

Hampshire vs Gloucestershire, Ageas Bowl (2)

Warwickshire vs Essex, Edgbaston (1)

Middlesex vs Surrey, Lord’s (2)

Northamptonshire vs Glamorgan, The County Ground (3)

Leicestershire vs Somerset, Grace Road (2)

Thursday, April 29

Lancashire vs Sussex Emirates, Old Trafford (3)

Derbyshire vs Nottinghamshire, The Incora County Ground (1)

Worcestershire vs Essex, New Road (1)

Durham vs Warwickshire, Emirates Riverside (1)

Gloucestershire vs Leicestershire, Bristol County Ground (2)

Somerset vs Middlesex, The Cooper Associates County (2)

Glamorgan vs Kent, Sophia Gardens (3)

Yorkshire vs Northamptonshire, Emerald Headingley (3)

Surrey vs Hampshire, Kia Oval (2)

Thursday, May 6

Yorkshire vs Kent, Emerald Headingley (3)

Leicestershire vs Surrey, Grace Road (2)

Warwickshire vs Worcestershire, Edgbaston (1)

Middlesex vs Gloucestershire, Lord’s (2)

Lancashire vs Glamorgan, Emirates Old Trafford (3)

Northamptonshire vs Sussex, The County Ground (3)

Hampshire vs Somerset, Ageas Bowl (2)

Nottinghamshire vs Essex, Trent Bridge (1)

Thursday, May 13

Essex vs Derbyshire, The Cloudfm County Ground (1)

Sussex vs Kent, The 1st Central County Ground (3)

Glamorgan vs Yorkshire, Sophia Gardens (3)

Middlesex vs Hampshire, Lord’s (2)

Durham vs Worcestershire, Emirates Riverside (1)

Somerset vs Surrey, The Cooper Associates County (2)

Thursday, May 20

Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire, Trent Bridge (1)

Essex vs Warwickshire, The Cloudfm County Ground (1)

Derbyshire vs Durham, The Incora County Ground (1)

Northamptonshire vs Lancashire, The County Ground (3)

Kent vs Glamorgan, Canterbury (3)

Hampshire vs Leicestershire, Ageas Bowl (2)

Gloucestershire vs Somerset, Bristol County Ground (2)

Surrey vs Middlesex, Kia Oval (2)

Thursday, May 27

Durham vs Essex, Emirates Riverside (1)

Warwickshire vs Nottinghamshire, Edgbaston (1)

Worcestershire vs Derbyshire, New Road (1)

Lancashire vs Yorkshire, Emirates Old Trafford (3)

Sussex vs Northamptonshire, The 1st Central County Ground (3)

Surrey vs Gloucestershire, Guildford (2)

Leicestershire vs Middlesex, Grace Road (2)

Thursday, June 3

Yorkshire vs Sussex Emerald, Headingley (3)

Worcestershire vs Durham, New Road (1)

Essex vs Nottinghamshire, The Cloudfm County Ground (1)

Derbyshire vs Warwickshire, The Incora County Ground (1)

Kent vs Northamptonshire, Canterbury (3)

Glamorgan vs Lancashire, venue tbc (3)

Somerset vs Hampshire, The Cooper Associates County (2)

Sunday, July 4

Lancashire vs Kent, Emirates Old Trafford (3)

Northamptonshire vs Yorkshire, The County Ground (3)

Gloucestershire vs Middlesex, Cheltenham (2)

Sussex vs Glamorgan, The 1st Central County Ground (3)

Nottinghamshire vs Derbyshire, Trent Bridge (1)

Warwickshire vs Durham Edgbaston (1)

Hampshire vs Surrey, Ageas Bowl (2)

Somerset vs Leicestershire, The Cooper Associates County (2)

Sunday, July 11

Derbyshire vs Essex, Chesterfield (1)

Durham vs Nottinghamshire, Emirates Riverside (1)

Worcestershire vs Warwickshire, New Road (1)

Yorkshire vs Lancashire, Scarborough (3)

Gloucestershire vs Hampshire, Cheltenham (2)

Middlesex vs Leicestershire, Merchant Taylors (2)

Surrey vs Somerset, Kia Oval (2)

Glamorgan vs Northamptonshire, Sophia Gardens (3)

Kent vs Sussex, Beckenham (3)

Division Stage dates

Round 1 Aug 30 – Sept 2

Round 2 Sept 5-8

Round 3 Sept 12-15

Round 4 Sept 21-24

Bob Willis Trophy Final

Sept 27-Oct 1

(c) Sky Sports 2020: Essex to start defence of men’s County Championship title at home in remodelled competition