Derbyshire Falcons will face Yorkshire in the first round of the inaugural Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup in 2025.
The Derbyshire side, led by Head of Cricket, Jon Dyson, will be aiming for a strong start to the new competition having lifted the National T20 Trophy back in August.
Thirty-seven teams from across the three tiers of the women’s domestic structure will enter the knock-out competition, with the Tier 1 teams entering at Round Three.
The knock-out nature of the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup will give Counties in Tier 2 and Tier 3 the chance to pull off a giant-killing against fully professional Tier 1 sides, and today’s draw offers potentially intriguing routes to Finals Day for a number of teams.
Two all Tier 1 ties in Round Three means the competition will be guaranteed at least two teams from Tiers 2 or 3 in the quarter-finals.
It’s the first time the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup will be competed for, in what is the first year of a revamped women’s domestic game structure.
The competition will take place across May, utilising Bank Holidays at the beginning and end of the month, and will signal the first domestic silverware of 2025.
ROUND ONE (Ties to be played Monday 5 May)
Match 1: Lincolnshire v Cheshire
Match 2: Staffordshire v Cumbria
Match 3: Northumberland – BYE
Match 4: Yorkshire v Derbyshire Falcons
Match 5: Leicestershire Foxes – BYE
Match 6: Shropshire v Norfolk
Match 7: Cambridgeshire v Herefordshire
Match 8: Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Worcestershire Rapids
Match 9: Sussex Sharks v Buckinghamshire
Match 10: Suffolk – BYE
Match 11: Hertfordshire v Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire
Match 12: Middlesex v Kent
Match 13: Cornwall v Berkshire
Match 14: Wiltshire v Oxfordshire
Match 15: Dorset v Devon
Match 16: Glamorgan v Gloucestershire
ROUND TWO (Ties to play Saturday 10 May)
Match 17: Yorkshire or Derbyshire Falcons v Staffordshire or Cumbria
Match 18: Leicestershire Foxes v Lincolnshire or Cheshire
Match 19: Shropshire or Norfolk v Northamptonshire Steelbacks or Worcestershire Rapids
Match 20: Northumberland v Cambridgeshire or Herefordshire
Match 21: Glamorgan or Gloucestershire v Sussex Sharks or Buckinghamshire
Match 22: Cornwall or Berkshire v Middlesex or Kent
Match 23: Wiltshire or Oxfordshire v Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire
Match 24: Devon or Dorset v Suffolk
The semi-finals and final will be played as a three-match Finals Day, with the two semi-finals preceding the final, at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, on Monday 26 May.
The fixtures for the Vitality Blast men’s competition, Vitality Blast women’s competition and Vitality Blast Women’s League 2 will be unveiled on Thursday 21 November.
