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

cricket Thursday 21 November 2024 11:07, UK

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.

A first-ever Vitality Blast Women's Finals Day will be staged at the Kia Oval on Sunday July 27, 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)

Watch the Vitality Blast live on Sky Sports. Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.