The 2023 fixtures for the men’s county and women’s regional domestic competitions have today been confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Kent will welcome Northamptonshire to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence for the opening match of the 2023 season in Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
Kent’s Men’s First XI will have a home curtain-raiser for the first time since their promotion season of 2018, with seven home Championship matches from April until September at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
View all 2023 Fixtures
The Kent Spitfires will also begin their T20 season with a Vitality Blast opener against Gloucestershire at Canterbury, the first of seven T20 matches in Canterbury in 2023, with over half of those being held on Friday evenings under the lights at The Spitfire Ground.
2023 will see The County Ground, Beckenham strengthen its role as the hub for high-level cricket in the Metropolitan Kent area across Men’s and Women’s cricket.
Two matches of Kent Spitfires’ One-Day Cup defence will take place in Beckenham at weekends during the Summer Holidays, multiple matches for the women’s regional side representing both Kent and Surrey in the South East Stars will be held at The County Ground, as well as the Club’s second home hosting a high-profile England U19 vs Australia U19 three-match Youth ODI series at the end of August.
The Club have confirmed that the 171st Canterbury Cricket Week will be a return to a multi-format make-up, with two T20 matches against Essex Eagles (7 June) and Hampshire Hawks (9 June) preceding a home Championship clash with Surrey, resuming the oldest rivalry in world cricket, from Sunday 11 June.
Kent will shortly be commencing a Members’ Working Group, consulting with selected Members on the make-up of Canterbury Cricket Week for 2023.
Once again, it has not been possible to schedule First XI cricket at The Nevill Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2023.
This is in part due to an already complex schedule which stretches resources across Canterbury and Beckenham, but critically, ECB minimum standards for hosting first-class level matches are continuing to rise; the current venue facilities are not considered to meet the new standards for next season.
The Club remains open to a return to The Nevill in the future, and will be meeting with representatives of Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club (TWCC) and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to discuss the future of hosting first-class level matches at the Nevill Ground.
The Spitfires’ One-Day Cup campaign for 2023 will see an away trip to Scarborough to face Yorkshire Vikings on matchday one of 50-over competition this coming August, before four home matches split evenly between Beckenham and Canterbury. Other away venues include Blackpool to face Lancashire and Hampshire on the Isle of Wight.
Club Membership remains the best and most cost-effective way to enjoy every day of Kent cricket in 2023, with all formats included as well as complimentary entry to England and Sri Lanka’s Women’s One-Day International this coming September at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
The men’s LV= Insurance County Championship will kick off the domestic season on April 6th, with 14 fixtures per county.
The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixture list has doubled in size, with twice the number of 50-over fixtures per season, while there will also be 20 double-headers across the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Vitality Blast.
Vitality Blast starts with Vitality Blast Off – featuring a double-header of two Vitality Blast matches – at Edgbaston on May 20th with a sold-out Finals Day at the same venue on July 15th.
The One-Day Cup runs from August 1st-September 16th.
With domestic fixtures released, supporters looking to plan their summer of cricket are encouraged to consider the following opportunities:
Vitality Blast Off priority window is now open until December 7 when it will go on general sale – sign up for priority access and purchase tickets
at edgbaston.com/blastoff.
Vitality Blast season tickets – secure your seats early by purchasing either a season ticket for every home group-stage match in the Vitality Blast or county membership. Visit ecb.co.uk/blast-tickets for links to team’s season ticket passes or membership opportunities to take advantage of multi-match saving
Membership – visit county websites for details of the different membership packages available and benefits on offer
E-calendar – synchronise your team’s fixtures to your desktop or mobile calendar and don’t miss a match with reminders ahead of every matchday.
LV= Insurance County Championship
As previously agreed, the 2023 LV= Insurance County Championship format is unchanged from 2022. Across Division One and Division Two, each county will play 14 home and away fixtures with two teams relegated and two teams promoted.
The LV= Insurance County Championship resumes on April 6th, with the first round of matches running over the Easter weekend. All 18 First Class Counties are in action in the opening round.
Surrey begin their title defence at Emirates Old Trafford – the venue at which they lifted the trophy last season.
The opening seven rounds are played from Thursday-Sunday on successive weeks.
Each county has a week off for rest and recovery during the first five rounds of the season.
A round of fixtures will be played in the week before the 1st LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes Test. Five rounds of fixtures will be played in June and July, the final round of fixtures begins on September 26th.
Vitality Blast
Vitality Blast will remain the same format as 2022 – each county will play 14 group-stage matches, with the top four in each group progressing to the quarter-finals.
The competition is set to start in spectacular style with Edgbaston hosting Vitality Blast Off on Saturday 20th May.
Vitality Blast Off will give fans their first opportunity to watch some of England’s newly-crowned men’s T20 world champions in action with a double-header that will feature Birmingham Bears against Yorkshire Vikings, and Derbyshire Falcons up against last season’s finalists Lancashire Lightning.
Finals Day – once again a sell-out – remains one of the stand-out days in the domestic cricket calendar and this year will be played on July 15th, and won’t clash with England Men’s white-ball fixtures.
Defending champions Hampshire Hawks begin their title defence on May 24th at Somerset.
Friday night is Vitality Blast night with 48 games taking place across six consecutive Friday nights.
Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy
The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixture list has doubled in size, with the one group of eight regional teams now playing home and away fixtures, meaning 14 group fixtures per team.
The competition begins on April 22nd with second and third rounds played over the following Bank Holiday weekend.
Defending champions Northern Diamonds begin at home to Western Storm at Headingley. The Blaze – the new home of women’s regional cricket in the East Midlands – will begin their new era on April 22nd.
The Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Final will be played on September 24th at The County Ground, Northampton.
Charlotte Edwards Cup
There will be 20 double-headers across Charlotte Edwards Cup and Vitality Blast matches from May 25th until June 7th. Seventeen venues will host double-headers including Blackpool.
There is one more fixture for each team this season, with the eight teams forming one group and playing home or away, meaning seven group fixtures per team.
The competition starts under lights at the Cloud County Ground on May 18th, with Sunrisers v Central Sparks. The final will be held at New Road on June 10th.
One-Day Cup
The One-Day Cup group stage will be played alongside The Hundred, beginning on August 1st. Defending champions Kent begin away to Yorkshire at Scarborough.
All 18 First Class Counties will play against a National County in warm-up games on July 30th. Sussex and Somerset will play a further game each on August 1st.
Outgrounds have become a feature of the One-Day Cup and this will continue – eight outgrounds so far are set to host One-Day Cup fixtures. The final will once again be played at Trent Bridge, on Saturday September 16th.