2008 fixtures announced

14 November 2007

The ECB has published the full fixture list for the 2008 domestic season.

The summer season will get underway on Thursday April 10 with the traditional curtain-raiser between MCC and the reigning LV County Champions, Sussex, at Lord’s.

Sussex will begin the defence of their back-to-back championship crowns the following week as they travel to the Rose Bowl to take on Hampshire on Wednesday April 16 in the first round of matches in Division One.

LV County Champions Sussex will face Hampshire

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Newly-promoted Nottinghamshire open their Division One account against Kent at Canterbury on the same day, while Surrey hosts Lancashire at the Brit Oval.

The Division Two season kicks off with Warwickshire hosting Worcestershire at Edgbaston as both teams begin life in the second Division following relegation in 2007.

The Friends Provident Trophy takes on a new format in 2008 with the 18 first-class counties as well as Ireland and Scotland making up four groups of five teams with each team playing the other four teams in the group twice throughout the competition – home and away.

The top two teams from each group will then qualify for the quarter-finals (June 4) with the winners of each group earning a home draw.

The opening round of the Friends Provident Trophy sees last year’s winners Durham host Yorkshire at the Riverside on Sunday, April 20 with a further seven opening round matches to be played on the same day. The showpiece Trophy final at Lord’s takes place on Saturday August 16.

The Twenty20 Cup gets under way on Wednesday June 11 with last year’s winners Kent taking on Sussex at Canterbury in the first round of the new-look group stage.

Kent will kick off their Twenty20 Cup defence in the south east group

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Next season will see each team play a symmetrical format of five home and five away games with the groups remaining regional-based with three groups of six first-class counties.

The Twenty20 Cup group stage concludes on Friday June 27 with quarter-finals on to be played from July 7-9 and four teams progressing to finals day at the Rose Bowl on Saturday July 26.

The NatWest Pro40 kicks off on Tuesday July 15 with a floodlit Division One match between current champions Worcestershire Royals and the Nottinghamshire Outlaws at New Road, while the competition will feature a further 23 matches under lights in the second half of the summer.