This morning the ECB unveiled the fixture list for both white-ball men’s competitions for the 2021 season, following the release of this summer’s County Championship fixtures in late December.
2021 Vitality Blast Fixtures
Following last summer’s shortened Vitality Blast campaign, this season’s competition returns to a fourteen-match group stage format with counties split into North and South groups.
Middlesex’s South Group campaign kicks off with a bang, with the always eagerly awaited London derby at the Home of Cricket, when we’ll begin the competition against our rivals Surrey on Thursday 10th June under the Lord’s floodlights. Our group campaign concludes with an away tie against Essex at Chelmsford on Sunday 18th July.
This season sees all fourteen group matches tightly packed into an all-action five-week summer slot, when we’ll go head-to-head both home and away with Surrey, Kent, Essex, Hampshire, Glamorgan, and Gloucestershire, and play just once against both Sussex at home and Somerset away in Taunton.
Lord’s will host four of Middlesex’s Vitality Blast clashes this season, with three games slotting into the Home of Cricket’s regular Thursday night floodlit berth, against Surrey first on 10th June, Essex on 24th June, and Sussex on 1st July, then concluding at Lord’s with one home tie on a Friday night, against Kent on 16th July, again under floodlights.
Middlesex’s remaining three Vitality Blast clashes will each be hosted at Radlett Cricket Club, where we’ll face Hampshire on Tuesday 15th June, Gloucestershire on Thursday 17th June and finally Glamorgan on Sunday 27th June.
After the completion of the group stages, the top four sides in each group will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, with the quarter finals taking place between 24th and 27th August 2021, leading up to Finals Day at Edgbaston on 18th September.
Sky Cricket are scheduled to cover numerous Blast matches live throughout the group stages; however Middlesex fans will also be able to tune in to each and every one of the club’s non-Sky televised home Blast matches, via the Middlesex website, as like last season the club will be producing an enhanced live stream of each and every match in 2021.
2021 Royal London Cup Fixtures
After Covid forced the cancellation of the 2020 Royal London Cup competition, we are delighted to announce that 2021 sees it return, with all eighteen counties randomly drawn into two groups, competing in eight group stage matches ahead of the knockout stages.
Our fifty-over group campaign kicks off with an away trip to Chelmsford on Sunday 25th July, where we’ll take on Essex, with the group stages concluding just two and a half weeks later, on Thursday 12th August with an away trip to Hove to take on Sussex.
In all, Middlesex will play eight group matches, with Durham, Hampshire, Worcestershire, Lancashire, Kent, and Gloucestershire joining Essex and Sussex as Middlesex’s Royal London Cup group stage opponents.
Radlett, can rightly lay claim to being Middlesex’s outground home of white-ball cricket in 2021, providing Stuart Law and his side with continuity and familiarity at our home from home this season, with the Brunton Memorial Ground also hosting every single one of our four home Royal London Cup group matches this summer as well as our three out-ground blast matches.
Our opening home clash is against Durham on Tuesday 27th July, before we face Hampshire at home three days later on Friday 27th July, Kent on Friday 6th August and finally Gloucestershire on Sunday 8th August.
The winners of each group will automatically qualify for a knockout semi-final place, whilst the sides finishing second and third will enter a play-off on 14th August to determine the other two semi-finalists. The semi-finals will be battled out on 17th August ahead of the final on 19th August.
Like all Blast home matches, Middlesex fans will again also be able to tune in to each and every one of the club’s group Royal London Cup games from Radlett, via the club’s enhanced live stream, available via the Middlesex website.
2021 National County Fixtures
Also cancelled in 2020 as a result of the pandemic were two National County clashes, which will be completed this summer, with Middlesex taking on both Berkshire and Hertfordshire in two one-day fixtures.
With the health and safety of all involved in our matches remaining our primary focus, Middlesex have selected Radlett to host all of our out-ground white-ball games this season, given that the ground has already proven its ability to host two Bob Willis Trophy matches last season under strict Covid regulations. Our thanks go to Radlett’s Committee and its members for their ongoing support in hosting Middlesex Cricket. Whilst this has provided us with a sensible and safe solution for the 2021 season as the pandemic continues to influence our planning, our policy of taking out-ground cricket around the county remains, with Richmond Cricket Club’s Old Deer Park ground, Merchant Taylors' School and Uxbridge Cricket Club remaining firmly in our out-ground plans for the future.
All fixtures are available to download straight into your smartphone devices via the ECB’s Ecal, which allows you to select your favourite side, pick whichever format you’re interested in and then at the press of a button, you’ll have access to all the fixture information you’ll need for the entire 2021 season.
Click HERE to download all the fixtures via the Ecal.
Alternatively, check out the fixtures section of the Middlesex website, where you’ll find all the information you need.
Information on how to secure your seats at Middlesex matches in 2021 will be communicated in the near future.
