T20 fixtures include 52 men's and women's double bills

Gloucestershire are the reigning T20 Blast champions, while the Bryce sisters helped The Blaze win the last Charlotte Edwards Cup last June

Women's teams have officially made the historic step of becoming "fully aligned" with the men's game at the announcement of the T20 Blast fixtures for 2025.

The 2025 season will include 52 double bills of men's and women's matches back to back - of which all 18 first-class counties will host at least one.

The Blast-Off weekend will start the new-look competition, beginning on Thursday, 29 May.

The Kia Oval will stage the first Women’s Finals Day on Sunday, 27 July, while Men’s Finals Day will be on Saturday, 13 September - again at Edgbaston, for the 17th time in the 23 years of T20 and the 13th straight year.

One significant change is that the team based at Edgbaston are listed just as the Bears, suggesting that the name Warwickshire might be used in T20 again after 11 seasons playing under the Birmingham Bears banner.

Defending men's champions Gloucestershire begin with a home game against Kent at Bristol on Friday, 30 May.

Nottinghamshire's women's side will continue to play as The Blaze, who beat South East Stars to win the last Charlotte Edwards Cup final last June.

They also start on 30 May against the Bears, as part of a double bill at Trent Bridge.

The competition begins on Thursday, 29 May in Manchester, where 2015 winners Lancashire host 2018 winners Worcestershire, and Lord's, where Middlesex and Sussex meet in a double bill.

'A new era for professional cricket'

"This is one of the clearest demonstrations to date of our aligned 'one game' approach to the delivery of men's and women's domestic cricket moving forwards," said Beth Barrett-Wild, the England and Wales Cricket Board's director of the women's professional game.

"It truly marks the beginning of a new era for professional cricket - one with gender balance at its core - in this country."

Following consultation with the Professional Cricketers' Association about scheduling, games on back-to-back days have been reduced by almost a third, with an increase of Tuesday or Wednesday midweek fixtures from five to 17.

"It has also been important that while putting the schedule together we have listened to the players," said ECB managing director of competitions and major events Neil Snowball, the former Warwickshire chief executive.

"We have had constructive conversations with the PCA to meet those understandable needs while also balancing the commercial value of the Blast to counties.

"The Blast will be played at, at least, 25 venues across England and Wales next season which will give more people even more opportunity to watch high-quality men's and women's T20 cricket."

How the teams are divided

Blast Men’s Competition:

North Group: Bears, Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Notts Outlaws, Worcestershire Rapids, Yorkshire Vikings.

South Group: Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Somerset, Sussex Sharks, Surrey.

Blast Women’s Competition:

Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey, The Blaze.

Blast Women’s League 2:

North Group: Derbyshire Falcons, Leicestershire Foxes, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Worcestershire Rapids, Yorkshire.

South Group: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Middlesex, Sussex Sharks.