County Championship fixtures: Essex start against Yorkshire
- Published
Simon Harmer was instrumental in Essex's T20 Blast and County Championship triumphs in 2019
County champions Essex will start their title defence in 2020 with a home fixture against Yorkshire in a much-changed schedule to last season.
The County Championship starts with six games on Sunday, 12 April, but Essex do not play until a week later.
In a season where the inaugural 100-ball competition, The Hundred, launches on 17 July, the T20 Blast group stage will be played from 28 May to 12 July.
The 50-over One-Day Cup runs alongside The Hundred in July and August.
A busy conclusion to the campaign in September sees the last round of County Championship matches begin on 22 September, as well as T20 Blast Finals Day and the One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge.
Essex play the MCC in Galle, Sri Lanka, from 24-27 March in the domestic season's traditional curtain-raiser.
Key dates:
24 March - MCC v Essex (four days)
12 April - County Championship starts
28 May - T20 Blast begins
17 July - The Hundred starts
19 July - One-Day Cup begins
14 August - Women's Hundred final
15 August - Men's Hundred final
5 September - T20 Blast Finals Day
19 September - One-Day Cup final
22 September - final round of County Championship starts
10 teams in Division One
A reshuffle in 2019 saw three teams promoted from the second tier of the County Championship and one relegated from Division One, meaning 10 sides will compete in Division One and eight in Division Two in 2020.
All counties will still play 14 games in total, with some fixtures in Division One only taking place once.
Division Two champions Lancashire start with a home game against Kent on 12 April, while fellow promoted side Gloucestershire get under way with a visit to Yorkshire.
Northants, who finished in the third and final promotion place, begin with a trip to Warwickshire a week later.
The first Roses game between Yorkshire and Lancashire starts on 14 June at Scarborough, with the return fixture at Old Trafford beginning on 8 September.
England batsman Keaton Jennings is looking forward to facing Lancashire's Roses rivals
With a huge amount of limited-overs cricket and The Hundred scheduled in mid-summer, the County Championship takes a six-week break at the start of July and resumes on 23 August.
Opening round of 2020 County Championship fixtures (12-15 April)
Division One: Lancashire v Kent, Somerset v Warwickshire, Yorkshire v Gloucestershire
Division Two: Middlesex v Worcestershire, Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire, Sussex v Durham
Week two Championship fixtures (19-22 April)
Division One: Essex v Yorkshire, Gloucestershire v Lancashire, Hampshire v Kent, Surrey v Somerset, Warwickshire v Northants
Division Two: Derbyshire v Leicestershire, Durham v Nottinghamshire, Glamorgan v Middlesex
All-change in limited-overs competitions
Somerset beat Hampshire to win the 2019 One-Day Cup trophy
The introduction of The Hundred sees major changes to the timings of the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup competitions.
The final of the 50-over tournament has been moved from late May to 19 September and has been switched from its traditional home of Lord's to Nottingham.
Holders Somerset get their defence under way against Warwickshire on 20 July.
T20 Blast Finals Day will take place two weeks earlier than last season on 5 September at Edgbaston. More matches will be on Thursday and Friday nights and at weekends, with the bulk of group games in June, compared to July and August in 2019.
The London derby between Surrey and Middlesex gets the competition under way on 28 May, while 2019 champions Essex Eagles start with a home game against Glamorgan a day later.
Full 2020 fixtures club-by-club
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE | DIVISION TWO |