The Surrey County champions will start the 2023 season with a repeat of last season’s final game, a trip to Emirates Old Trafford to take on Lancashire.
Promoted Middlesex will start at home against Essex, while Division 2 champions Nottinghamshire go to Hampshire.
Relegated Yorkshire start life in Division Two at home to Leicestershire.
For the Tykes, relegated on the final afternoon of the 2022 campaign by Liam Norwell’s incredible nine-wicket haul for Warwickshire, it will be the first Division Two game in 11 years.
They will face the Foxes who have not won a County Championship game since September 2021.
Worcestershire, whose ground is next to the River Severn and prone to flooding at the start of the season, start with two away games, in Derbyshire and Durham, before a home opener against Gloucestershire at New Road on 20 april.
The first round of matches begins on Thursday April 6, then on a Thursday for the next six rounds in April and the first three weeks of May.
This includes the first London Derby of the summer, Surrey v Middlesex at The Kia Oval on May 11, with the return to Lord’s from July 18.
After the break for the T20 Blast, which start with a double header at Edgbaston on May 20, there will then be two series of league fixtures in June, both starting on a Sunday.
There are then three more rounds of red-ball cricket in July, either side of the already sold-out T20 Blast Finals day at Edgbaston on July 15.
There will again be no Championship Cricket in August. The rush hour of the summer school holidays will again be reserved for the One hundred men and women – and the cut of a day.
The final four rounds of Championship action come in September, including two visits to the Warwickshire capital, first against Surrey at The Oval and then Middlesex at Lord’s, their first return there since becoming the last county team to win the Bob Willis Trophy. in 2021.
T20 Blast and One-Day Cup
- Defending T20 Blast champions Hampshire start in Somerset on May 24.
- Friday nights were again designated as “Explosive Nights”, with 48 games taking place over six consecutive Friday nights.
- One-Day Cup champions Kent begin their title defense against Yorkshire at Scarborough on August 1.
- The One-Day Cup Final will take place again at Trent Bridge on Saturday 16th September.
More women’s cricket on schedule
- The Charlotte Edwards Cup will feature 20 doubles matches, shared with the men’s T20 Blast matches from May 25 to June 7, at 17 venues. This means one extra match per team.
- The Sunrisers host Central Sparks in the first Charlotte Edwards Cup game of the summer on May 18.
- New Road will host the final on June 10.
- The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match slate has been doubled for 2023. There will be 14 Over-50 matches per season for each women’s regional team, starting April 22.
- Northampton County Ground will host the final on September 24.
Opening matches – Thursday 6 April
first division:
Hampshire v Nottinghamshire
Lancashire v Surrey
Somerset v Warwickshire
Middlesex v Essex
Kent v Northamptonshire
Division two:
Sussex v Durham
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire
Derbyshire v Worcestershire
Yorkshire v Leicestershire
