2021 Glamorgan County Championship Group Stage fixtures announced

The Men’s County Championship will return next summer with all 18 First-Class Counties set to be in action when the opening round begins on Thursday, 8th April.

Fixtures and dates for the remodelled 2021 Men’s County Championship have been announced today with Glamorgan beginning their campaign at Emerald Headingley against 33-times champions Yorkshire. They will finish the group stage at Sophia Gardens when they take on Northamptonshire, with the final group stage game beginning on Sunday, 11th July. The divisional stage will then run from Monday, 30th August to Friday, 24th September.

The centrepiece of the group stage for Glamorgan will be the visit of Yorkshire to Sophia Gardens on Thursday, 13th May, with a trip to Emirates Old Trafford the week before as another exciting moment to mark on the Glamorgan fan’s calendar.

Kent and Sussex are the other two sides in Group 3, with a July trip to Hove another highlight on the fixture list. Fixtures for the remaining domestic women’s and men’s white-ball competitions are set to be announced in early 2021.

The First-Class Counties agreed in October to reshape the Men’s County Championship structure for next summer only to help mitigate against the possible impact of COVID-19.

Each First-Class County has initially been placed into one of three seeded groups of six and has been scheduled to play five home matches and five away matches during the Group Stage.

The opening nine rounds of Group Stage matches are to be played on consecutive weeks and all are due to begin on a Thursday with a scheduled Sunday finish.

The Group Stage will conclude in July with the Round 10 and 11 matches to begin on a Sunday. All the First-Class Counties will play in the final round of Group Stage fixtures.

The top two counties in each group, at the end of the Group Stage, will progress to Division One, with the other counties moving into Divisions Two and Three, where they will each play a further four matches.

The winner of Division One will be crowned the 2021 County Championship winners.

The opening round of Divisional Stage matches will begin on the Bank Holiday Monday 30 August.

The five-day Bob Willis Trophy final will be played between the top two counties in Division One and is scheduled to start on Tuesday 27 September.

Glamorgan Director of Cricket, Mark Wallace, said: “Seeing the fixtures come out as a player was always an exciting time and gives you extra energy in training knowing that next summer is rapidly approaching.

“We’re really looking forward to a challenging group, with some four ‘first division’ sides in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Kent, and Northamptonshire, and Sussex have given us some great games over recent years.

“The players can’t wait to get stuck into the season and take on some of the best teams and players on the county circuit, it’s a great chance to challenge yourself and the squad is excited to have a chance at two first-class titles in 2021.

“Being able to win the top prize is an incredible motivator across the Club and we are champing at the bit to get started.”

ECB Managing Director County Cricket, Neil Snowball, said: "We’re all looking forward to the return of the County Championship in 2021 after a very challenging year in 2020.

“Despite the significant hurdles that we faced this year, the domestic game still found a way to play meaningful cricket across men’s and women’s formats while ensuring that our members and supporters were able to remain close to the game through advanced live streaming of matches.

“Once again we have seen an innovative and collaborative approach between the ECB and the 18 First Class Counties that has enabled us to plan for 2021 with a new, County Championship structure for 2021 only, that is designed to be both exciting for players and supporters and also flexible to the possible ongoing impact of COVID-19.

“We are also working hard with all 18 First-Class Counties to ensure that we are able to welcome the return of crowds safely next year and will continue to work closely with Government and all relevant authorities.”

*Fixtures for the Royal London Cup, the Vitality Blast, The Hundred, Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy and other tournaments will be released in the new year*