National Counties Fixtures Announced

Norfolk will begin their defence of the National Counties Trophy with an East Anglia derby at Fakenham on April 27.

Norfolk beat Cheshire in last season’s final at Wormsley in August and will be returning to Fakenham’s Highfields Lawn ground for the first time since 2016 for their opening Group Two match.

Norfolk then face successive away matches against Shropshire at Shrewsbury on May 4 and Herefordshire at Brockhampton the following day before hosting Staffordshire at Sprowston on May 18.

The 50-overs Trophy will launch the new National Counties season with the T20 competition, which has traditionally occupied the early-season slot, beginning a month later with the first round of matches on May 25 and the Finals Day returning to Wormsley on August 24.

Hopefully the weather will be kinder than in the two years which have seen the group stages decimated by washed out matches including last season’s Finals Day which was abandoned at the third attempt at Chester Boughton Hall.

The three-day Durant Cricket National Counties Championship also failed to produce a winner after the final at West Bromwich Dartmouth ended in a rain-affected draw between Berkshire and Staffordshire.

Berkshire begin their Championship season against Devon at Wagrave in Western Division One from July 20 to 22 with Staffordshire hosting Lincolnshire at Checkley in their first Eastern Division One match the following week.

Staffordshire are taking county cricket back to Bignall End for the first time in 35 years with Suffolk the visitors for a Trophy match on May 5.

Staffordshire are also returning to Wolverhampton for the first time since 1995 for a T20 double-header against Cumbria on July 6.

The Blundell’s School ground near Tiverton returns to the county fixture schedule for the first time since 1989 with Devon taking on Berkshire there in a Trophy Group Three match on May 18.

There are two new National Counties venues, both of them in Lincolnshire. Barton on Humber’s Marsh Lane ground will stage a Trophy match against Northumberland on May 4with London Road in Louth a new venue for the T20 double-header with Norfolk on May 25.

National Counties Fixtures 2025

National Counties Trophy

April 27

Group One: Lincolnshire v Cambridgeshire (Bracebridge Heath), Northumberland v Cumbria (South Northumberland CC).

Group Two: Herefordshire v Shropshire (Eastnor), Norfolk v Suffolk (Fakenham).

Group Three: Cornwall v Oxfordshire (St Just), Devon v Buckinghamshire (North Devon CC).

Group Four: Hertfordshire v Cheshire (Hitchin), Wales NC v Dorset (Lisvane).

May 4

Group One: Bedfordshire v Cumbria (Dunstable), Lincolnshire v Northumberland (Barton).

Group Two: Shropshire v Norfolk (Shrewsbury), Staffordshire v Herefordshire (West Bromwich Dartmouth).

Group Three: Buckinghamshire v Cornwall (Tring), Oxfordshire v Berkshire (Wormsley).

Group Four: Wales NC v Hertfordshire (Sudbrook), Wiltshire v Cheshire (Marlborough College).

May 5

Group One: Bedfordshire v Lincolnshire (Dunstable), Cambridgeshire v Northumberland (Peterborough).

Group Two: Herefordshire v Norfolk (Brockhampton), Staffordshire v Suffolk (Bignall End).

Group Three: Berkshire v Cornwall (Slough), Oxfordshire v Devon (TBC).

Group Four: Dorset v Hertfordshire (Wimborne), Wiltshire v Wales NC (Warminster).

May 11

Group One: Cumbria v Cambridgeshire (TBC), Northumberland v Bedfordshire (Jesmond).

Group Two: Shropshire v Staffordshire (Shifnal), Suffolk v Herefordshire (Sudbury).

Group Three: Berkshire v Buckinghamshire (Falkland CC), Cornwall v Devon (Redruth).

Group Four: Cheshire v Wales NC (Toft), Dorset v Wiltshire (Wimborne).

May 18

Group One: Cambridgeshire v Bedfordshire (Sawston & Babraham), Cumbria v Lincolnshire (Furness).

Group Two: Norfolk v Staffordshire (Sprowston), Suffolk v Shropshire (Mildenhall).

Group Three: Buckinghamshire v Oxfordshire (Tring), Devon v Berkshire (Blundell’s School).

Group Four: Cheshire v Dorset (Didsbury), Hertfordshire v Wiltshire (Didsbury).

June 1

Quarter-finals

June 22

Semi-finals

July 13

Final

National Counties T20

May 25

Group One: Northumberland v Staffordshire (Allendale), Shropshire v Cheshire (Wem).

Group Two: Cambridgeshire v Hertfordshire (Exning), Lincolnshire v Norfolk (Louth).

Group Three: Bedfordshire v Wales NC (Southill Park), Oxfordshire v Berkshire (TBC).

June 8

Group One: Cumbria v Northumberland (Keswick), Staffordshire v Shropshire (Burslem).

Group Two: Hertfordshire v Lincolnshire (Welwyn Garden City), Suffolk v Cambridgeshire (Ipswich School).

Group Three: Buckinghamshire v Bedfordshire (Chesham), Wales NC v Oxfordshire (Panteg).

Group Four: Dorset v Herefordshire (Wimborne), Wiltshire v Devon (South Wilts CC).

June 15

Group One: Cheshire v Staffordshire (Nantwich), Shropshire v Cumbria (St George’s).

Group Two: Lincolnshire v Suffolk (Bourne), Norfolk v Herefordshire (Sprowston).

Group Three: Berkshire v Wales NC (Slough), Oxfordshire v Buckinghamshire (TBC).

Group Four: Cornwall v Wiltshire (Werrington), Devon v Dorset (Sandford).

June 29

Group One: Cumbria v Cheshire (Barrow), Northumberland v Shropshire (South Northumberland CC).

Group Two: Cambridgeshire v Lincolnshire (Exning), Suffolk v Norfolk (Woolpit).

Group Three: Bedfordshire v Oxfordshire (Luton), Buckinghamshire v Berkshire (Chesham).

Group Four: Dorset v Cornwall (Wimborne), Herefordshire v Devon (Colwall)

July 6

Group One: Cheshire v Northumberland (Oxton), Staffordshire v Cumbria (Wolverhampton).

Group Two: Hertfordshire v Suffolk (West Herts CC), Norfolk v Cambridgeshire (Sprowston).

Group Three: Berkshire v Bedfordshire (Wargrave), Wales NC v Buckinghamshire (Ebbw Vale)

Group Four: Cornwall v Herefordshire (St Austell), Wiltshire v Dorset (Westbury).

August 3

Super 12s

August 24

Final (Wormsley)

Durant Cricket National Counties Championship

July 20-22

Eastern Division One: Lincolnshire v Cambridgeshire (Sleaford), Suffolk v Buckinghamshire (Bury st Edmunds).

Western Division One: Oxfordshire v Cornwall (TBC), Berkshire v Devon (Wargarve).

Eastern Division Two: Bedfordshire v Cumbria (Dunstable), Norfolk v Hertfordshire (Manor Park).

Western Division Two: Shropshire v Cheshire (Whitchurch), Wiltshire v Wales NC (South Wilts CC).

July 27-29

Eastern Division One: Staffordshire v Lincolnshire (Checkley), Cambridgeshire v Suffolk (Sawston & Babraham).

Western Division One: Cornwall v Berkshire (Truro), Herefordshire v Oxfordshire (Eastnor).

Eastern Division Two: Hertfordshire v Cumbria (Bishop’s Stortford), Norfolk v Northumberland (Manor Park).

Western Division Two: Cheshire v Wiltshire (Alderley Edge), Dorset v Shropshire (Wimborne).

August 10-12

Eastern Division One: Buckinghamshire v Cambridgeshire (Chesham), Suffolk v Staffordshire (Copdock).

Western Division One: Berkshire v Herefordshire (Falkland CC), Devon v Cornwall (Cornwood).

Eastern Division Two: Bedfordshire v Norfolk (Flitwick), Northumberland v Hertfordshire (South Northumberland CC).

Western Division Two: Wales NC v Cheshire (Abergavenny), Wiltshire v Dorset (Corsham).

August 17-19

Eastern Division One: Lincolnshire v Suffolk (Cleethorpes), Staffordshire v Buckinghamshire (Stafford).

Western Division One: Oxfordshire v Berkshire (TBC), Herefordshire v Devon (Eastnor).

Eastern Division Two: Cumbria v Northumberland (TBC), Hertfordshire v Bedfordshire (Hertford).

Western Division Two: Dorset v Wales NC (Wimborne), Shropshire v Wiltshire (Bridgnorth).

August 31-September 2

Eastern Division One: Buckinghamshire v Lincolnshire (High Wycombe), Cambridgeshire v Staffordshire (Peterborough).

Western Division One: Cornwall v Herefordshire (Helston), Devon v Oxfordshire (Sidmouth).

Eastern Division Two: Cumbria v Norfolk (Netherfield), Northumberland v Bedfordshire (South Northumberland CC).

Western Division Two: Cheshire v Dorset (Chester Boughton Hall), Wales NC v Shropshire (St Asaph).

September 7-10

Final