2025 T20 Season to Feature 52 Men’s and Women’s Double-Headers

The current T20 Blast champions are Gloucestershire. The Blaze, featuring the Bryce sisters, secured victory in the most recent Charlotte Edwards Cup last June. The announcement of the 2025 T20 Blast fixtures officially marks a significant milestone, with women’s teams achieving “full alignment” with the men’s game. For the 2025 season, the schedule features 52 consecutive men’s and women’s double-header matches. Every one of the 18 first-class counties is set to host a minimum of one such event. The revamped competition will commence with the Blast-Off weekend, starting on Thursday, May 29. The Kia Oval is designated to host the inaugural Women’s Finals Day on Sunday, July 27. Men’s Finals Day is scheduled for Saturday, September 13, once again at Edgbaston, marking its 17th occurrence in the 23-year history of T20 cricket and its 13th consecutive year at the venue. A notable alteration is the listing of the Edgbaston-based team simply as “the Bears,” which could indicate a return to the Warwickshire name in T20 cricket, following 11 seasons under the Birmingham Bears banner. Gloucestershire, the reigning men’s champions, will open their campaign with a home fixture against Kent in Bristol on Friday, May 30. Nottinghamshire’s women’s team will maintain their identity as The Blaze, the side that defeated South East Stars to claim the most recent Charlotte Edwards Cup final last June. Their season also commences on May 30, facing the Bears as part of a double-header event at Trent Bridge. The competition’s opening day, Thursday, May 29, will see matches in Manchester, with 2015 champions Lancashire hosting 2018 champions Worcestershire, and at Lord’s, where Middlesex and Sussex will compete in a double-header. “This is one of the clearest demonstrations to date of our aligned ‘one game’ approach to the delivery of men’s and women’s domestic cricket moving forwards,” stated Beth Barrett-Wild, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s director of the women’s professional game. She added, “It truly marks the beginning of a new era for professional cricket – one with gender balance at its core – in this country.” After discussions with the Professional Cricketers’ Association regarding scheduling, the number of consecutive day games has been cut by nearly a third, while midweek Tuesday or Wednesday fixtures have risen from five to 17. “It has also been important that while putting the schedule together we have listened to the players,” commented Neil Snowball, ECB managing director of competitions and major events and former Warwickshire chief executive. He further stated, “We have had constructive conversations with the PCA to meet those understandable needs while also balancing the commercial value of the Blast to counties.” Next season, the Blast competition is set to be held at a minimum of 25 venues throughout England and Wales, thereby offering an expanded opportunity for more spectators to experience high-quality men’s and women’s T20 cricket. The teams participating in the upcoming Blast competitions are as follows: **Blast Men’s Competition:** 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. **Blast Women’s Competition:** Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey, The Blaze. **Blast Women’s League 2:** North Group: Derbyshire Falcons, Leicestershire Foxes, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Worcestershire Rapids, Yorkshire. South Group: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Middlesex, Sussex Sharks.