ECB Reveals New Schedule And Sponsor
The new Natwest T20 Blast competition will begin next May as part of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s rebranding of its Twenty20 (T20) tournament.
The event will run from 2014-2017 featuring 14 counties and is part of a changed schedule for country cricket which includes regular Friday and Sunday start dates for the T20 and four-day competitions respectively and the advent of the new Royal London One-Day Cup.
The schedule has been introduced following recommendations from the Morgan Review into the domestic game and extensive feedback from more than 25,000 county cricket fans.
David Collier, ECB chief executive said: ‘This schedule has been designed to make the needs of the fans our number one priority. With nearly 70 per cent of T20 group matches scheduled for Friday nights, 67 per cent of LV= County Championship matches commencing on a Sunday and a school summer holiday slot for The Royal London One-Day Cup, this schedule meets the demand from fans for regular ‘appointments to view’ across all our domestic competitions.’
Collier added: ‘We welcome Royal London to our family of domestic cricket sponsors for the first time and are also excited about the role the NatWest T20 Blast will play in attracting a wider audience to our county game – with Friday nights providing the perfect opportunity for fans to combine a weekend night out with watching cricket.’
