2021 County Championship fixtures released

Derbyshire’s County Championship group stage fixtures have been released, with Billy Godleman’s side beginning their campaign against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

The 2021 first-class season will be split into two parts, with the group placings after ten games determining which division a side is in for their remaining four matches, with the top two teams in Division One competing in a final for the Bob Willis Trophy.

The competition begins on Thursday 8 April, with Derbyshire facing Warwickshire, and continues for eight solid weeks prior to the start of the Vitality Blast in June.

The eagerly anticipated return of cricket to The Incora County Ground comes on Thursday 15 April, when Derbyshire play host to Worcestershire.
Derbyshire will enjoy a duo of blockbuster Group One encounters against local rivals Nottinghamshire as the East Midlands rivalry restarts in Derby on Thursday 29 April, with old scores to be settled after Fynn Hudson-Prentice starred in a record-breaking win at Trent Bridge in 2020.

Another annual highlight of the cricket calendar begins on Sunday 11 July as the Chesterfield Festival of Cricket gets underway with the visit of reigning champions Essex to the north of the county.

Following on from the hugely popular Tourist Fixture against Australia in 2019, Derbyshire will once again test themselves against international opposition, as India A travel to The Incora County Ground for a four-day first-class game, starting on Sunday 27 June.

Fixtures in Full

Reminder of the 2021 structure

The 18 first-class counties are set to play 14 County Championship matches each next summer across Group and Division Stages. Each first-class county has initially been placed into one of three seeded groups of six and will be scheduled to play five home, and five away, matches during the Group Stage.

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, while the top two teams in Division One will also earn the right to play in the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s.

The divisional matches will take place between Monday 30 August and Friday 24 September, followed by the Bob Willis Trophy final, starting on Monday 27 September.

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