Cricket Dec 07, 2025

Vitality Blast: More double-headers and first Women's Finals Day part of historic T20 summer in 2025

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Vitality Blast: More double-headers and first Women's Finals Day part of historic T20 summer in 2025

All 18 first-class counties will host at least one women’s and men’s Vitality Blast double-header next season as part of a historic 2025 domestic T20 summer.

The 2025 season will be the first time all women's and men's county teams will play side by side in the Vitality Blast, with the men's competition entering its 22nd year and the women's teams playing across two Vitality Blast competitions.

The eight counties from Tier One will compete in the Vitality Blast Women's competition and the Vitality Blast Women's League 2 will feature the 10 remaining counties, with a total of 52 women's and men's double-headers staged across 20 venues next season.

The Blast-Off weekend from May 29-June 1 will kick-start the new-look competition, with 10 double-headers and all eight of the Vitality Blast women's competition counties involved. Rivals Week will also continue in the men's competition, with the oldest county rivalries taking centre stage.

The group stage will then come to a high-stakes conclusion with 'Friday Finale' on July 18, with eight men's and eight women's matches scheduled, where the women race for the three Finals Day spots and the men have a last chance to book their place in the quarter-finals.

, while Vitality Blast Men's Finals Day takes place at Edgbaston on Saturday September 13.

There will be 17 scheduled Vitality Blast men's competition matches on a Tuesday or Wednesday, an increase from five last summer, while the number of back-to-back games has also been reduced by almost a third.

Each men's county side plays 14 group-stage matches against the counties in their respective groups. The top four teams in each group progress to the quarter-finals, with those winners then qualifying for Finals Day.

North Group: Bears, Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Notts Outlaws, Worcestershire Rapids, Yorkshire Vikings.

South Group: Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Somerset, Sussex Sharks, Surrey.

The eight sides in the Vitality Blast women's competition play 14 group-stage matches, playing every team home and away, with the top three in the round-robin group then securing a spot at Finals Day.

Group: Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey, The Blaze.

The other ten teams competing in the Vitality Blast Women's League 2 are split into two groups of five, with each county playing eight group-stage matches and the top two from both qualifying for Finals Day.

North Group: Derbyshire Falcons, Leicestershire Foxes, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Worcestershire Rapids, Yorkshire.

South Group: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Middlesex, Sussex Sharks.

Thursday, May 29

Men - Lancashire Lightning vs Worcestershire Rapids (Emirates Old Trafford)

Men - Middlesex vs Sussex Sharks (Lord's)

Women's League 2 - Middlesex vs Sussex Sharks (Lord's)

Friday, May 30

Men - Gloucestershire vs Kent Spitfires (The Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol)

Women - Hampshire Hawks vs Essex (Utilita Bowl)

Men - Hampshire Hawks vs Essex (Utilita Bowl)

Men - Leicestershire Foxes vs Derbyshire Falcons (Uptonsteel County Ground)

Men - Notts Outlaws vs Bears (Trent Bridge)

Women - The Blaze vs Bears (Trent Bridge)

Men - Somerset vs Surrey (The Cooper Associates County Ground)

Women - Somerset vs Surrey (The Cooper Associates County Ground)

Men - Yorkshire vs Northamptonshire Steelbacks (Headingley)

Saturday May 31

Men - Bears vs Durham Cricket (Edgbaston)

Women - Bears vs Durham Cricket (Edgbaston)

Men - Lancashire Lightning vs Notts Outlaws (Emirates Old Trafford)

Women - Lancashire Thunder vs The Blaze (Emirates Old Trafford)

Sunday June 1

Men - Durham Cricket vs Lancashire Lightning (Seat Unique Riverside)

Women - Durham Cricket vs Lancashire Thunder (Seat Unique Riverside)

Men - Worcestershire Rapids vs Yorkshire (Visit Worcestershire New Road)

Men - Essex vs Somerset (The Cloud County Ground)

Women - Essex vs Somerset (The Cloud County Ground)

Men - Middlesex vs Glamorgan (Merchant Taylors' School)

Women's League 2 - Middlesex vs Glamorgan (Merchant Taylors' School)

Men - Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Leicestershire Foxes (The County Ground Northampton)

Women's League 2 - Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Leicestershire (The County Ground Northampton)

Men - Sussex Sharks vs Gloucestershire (The 1st Central County Ground, Hove)

Women's League 2 - Sussex Sharks vs Gloucestershire (The 1st Central County Ground, Hove)

Women's League 2 - Yorkshire vs Derbyshire Falcons (Headingley)

Tags:

cricket news id:13257376

Share this article

Related Posts

Ben Stokes: England captain reveals 'tough' decisions behind international retirement and why it is 'best thing' for him

Ben Stokes: England captain reveals 'tough' decisions behind international retirement and why it is 'best thing' for him

Ben Stokes insists retiring from international cricket is the “best thing” for him after sensationally confirming mid-match that England’s series deci...

England beaten by New Zealand: Nasser Hussain wants more honesty from Brendon McCullum amid attention-to-detail crisis

England beaten by New Zealand: Nasser Hussain wants more honesty from Brendon McCullum amid attention-to-detail crisis

Nasser Hussain has called for more honesty from Brendon McCullum after the Test series defeat to New Zealand further highlighted England's attention-t...

England vs New Zealand: Ben Stokes finish with series defeat as hosts limp to third-Test loss in captain's final game

England vs New Zealand: Ben Stokes finish with series defeat as hosts limp to third-Test loss in captain's final game

England limped to a tame series defeat to New Zealand as they were beaten by 160 runs on an anti-climactic final day at Trent Bridge - Ben Stokes' las...

England vs New Zealand, third Test player ratings: Jofra Archer and Ben Duckett impress in Ben Stokes' farewell Test

England vs New Zealand, third Test player ratings: Jofra Archer and Ben Duckett impress in Ben Stokes' farewell Test

England suffered a 160-run defeat to New Zealand in the series-deciding third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Ben Stokes' last match as an i...

England vs New Zealand: Bazball dies where it began as Brendon McCullum's side enter uncertain future without Ben Stokes

England vs New Zealand: Bazball dies where it began as Brendon McCullum's side enter uncertain future without Ben Stokes

See ya, Bazball. RIP and thanks for the memories.Four years on from that philosophy being born against New Zealand at Trent Bridge as Jonny Bairstow w...

Ben Stokes: England's 'serious entertainer' bows out as cricket becomes 'less interesting' and 'far worse'

Ben Stokes: England's 'serious entertainer' bows out as cricket becomes 'less interesting' and 'far worse'

Ben Stokes was never going to go quietly, was he?We saw a sedate retirement from an international cricket legend earlier this month when New Zealand's...