Surrey will begin their quest to win a fourth consecutive County Championship with a trip to Chelmsford to take on Essex in the opening round of the 2025 season, which kicks off with all 18 counties in action from April 4-7.
Unsurprisingly, the summer structure for men’s county cricket remains largely unchanged from 2024. The season begins with eight rounds of the Championship, now sponsored by Rothesay, followed by the Vitality Blast group stage, which is split in two blocks. of Championship cricket in June and July, before the Hundred and Metro Bank One-Day Cup begin in August.
It will once again culminate in a packed September, including the final three rounds of the championship, the men’s Blast Finals Day, the deciders of both One-Day Cups and the final of the Disability Premier League.
As the ECB has spent much of the last 18 months focused on producing a new County Partnership Agreement, significant counterpart allocations for 2025-2031 and the introduction of the new three-tier women’s county structure, as well as the current sale of Hundred shares, Neil Snowball, the ECB’s director general of competitions and major events, said work to reshape a men’s program that has grown haphazardly since Covid-19 and the introduction of the Hundred.
“All of that meant it didn’t seem like the right time to take a meaningful look at the men’s nationals,” Snowball said. “But once we get to the other side of the Hundred sales process, we’ll obviously look at it again. That’s why we’ll stay with the same structure, with some adjustments, for 2025.”
“We urge the game to come together because this issue cannot continue to be put on the back burner any longer,” said James Harris, Glamorgan bowler and president of the PCA. “We cannot wait for a tragedy to occur before the sport wakes up and recognizes that the well-being of the players has not been prioritized.”
The launch of a revamped women’s game, led by the eight newly professional Tier 1 teams, means 335 county women’s matches will be staged throughout the summer. It will begin with the first block of one-day Cup matches in April and May, followed by the launch of the Blast, with each county hosting at least one joint men’s and women’s matchday.
“This is a great moment for the women’s professional game, for domestic cricket,” said Beth Barrett-Wild, director of the women’s professional game. “We’ve talked about how this is very much the beginning of a new era in the way we present professional cricket in this country, with men and women lining up side by side, and how we’re really using this as an opportunity to elevate and integrate the women’s teams, in particular, through those new county identities.”
The men’s and women’s One-Day Cup finals will take place at Trent Bridge and the Utilita Bowl respectively, on consecutive days in September, as was the case last season.
There will again be four rounds of the County Championship with Kookaburra balls, although those games will be played consecutively in June and July rather than in the early stages of the season. Alan Fordham, head of national cricket operations – professional game, said there were “some fairly high scoring games” and the decision was made to “move [using the Kookaburra] Back to mid-summer where we might see a bit more reverse swing and give the bowlers more opportunities.”
The ECB will also continue for another season with its experiment of allowing the use of hybrid pitches in the county championship, as well as for white-ball matches.
Work to redesign the men’s national calendar, taking into account what Snowball called “the purpose and objectives of each competition”, is likely to begin in earnest early next year, after the ECB has completed the sale process. of the Hundred It will involve counties, the PCA and the newly established Professional Gaming Committee, and hosting the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will only add to the logistical complexity.
Alan Gardner is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
