What cricket competitions to look forward to in 2024

The sound of leather on willow echoing around the country means it’s time for a new cricket season with another packed summer at international, domestic and club levels.

We look at some of the top global and domestic competitions happening in 2024 in both the men’s and women’s game to help you follow the action—including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup hosted jointly by the West Indies and, for the first time, the USA.

This year’s County Championship gets underway on Friday, April 5. Champions Surrey will be looking to make it three titles in a row in Alec Stewart’s final year in charge as Director of Cricket. The all-conquering south London side kick off their campaign with a tough first-up test away to Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester.

This year’s Championship season begins with eight consecutive rounds played from Friday-Monday each week in April and May, to allow more opportunity for members and fans to attend at weekends.

The Championship will be played in each month of the season—including back-to-back rounds in June and July ahead of the England Men’s Test summer. There will be two County Championship rounds at the end of August before the title run-in during September.

The final round of the County Championship will begin on Thursday, 26 September.

More than 850,000 people attended domestic T20 competitions last summer and the ECB have tailored this year’s men’s Vitality Blast schedule so 121 of 126 group-stages matches will be played on Thursday and Friday nights and at weekends—an increase from 93 matches in those time slots last season.

Lewis Gregory will again skipper Somerset as they begin their title defence, following their unprecedented winning streak in last year’s Vitality Blast, one which produced a record 15 victories.

The tournament begins on May 30 culminating in a sold-out Finals Day at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Saturday, September 14.

In the women’s game meanwhile, Georgia Adams’ Southern Vipers won the white-ball double last season, securing both the T20 Charlotte Edwards Cup and the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. This year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign begins on Saturday, May 18 with Finals Day taking place at the Incora County Ground in Derby on Saturday, June 22—comprising two semi-finals and a final.

Before that, fans can catch 22 double headers with men’s and women’s matches taking place at the same venue on the same day—an increase from 20 last season.

Meanwhile the men’s Disability Premier League competition is set to run from August into September. Hawks will be bidding to defend their title after defeating Pirates in front of the Sky Sports cameras at Derby last summer.

The women’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy begins on Saturday, April 20 with defending champions Southern Vipers beginning their summer schedule away to South East Stars at Beckenham.

Leicestershire’s men start the defence of their Metro Bank One-Day Cup title at home to local rivals Notts Outlaws on Wednesday, July 24. Last year was a memorable one for The Foxes, who memorably won their first one-day trophy in 38 years.

Both women’s and men’s 50-over finals will be played on the same weekend in the East Midlands, with the Uptonsteel County Ground in Leicester staging the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final on Saturday, September 21 before Trent Bridge, Nottingham, hosts the Metro Bank One-Day Cup final the next day.

Live streams of all men’s and women’s domestic cricket this summer are available via each teams’ YouTube channel. The counties also have dedicated live match centres on their websites.

You'll also be able to watch every #CountyChamp live stream in the ECB’s Match Centre across the ECB website and England Cricket app. Sign up here for a free account: https://myaccount.ecb.co.uk/

For England, Scotland and Ireland, early season is dominated by preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Jos Buttler’s England are defending champions, having lifted the trophy in Melbourne in 2022. But they will need to bounce back after a dismal showing in last autumn’s ICC 50-over World Cup which saw them finish seventh despite winning that title in 2019.

England will warm up by playing a four-match T20 international series against Pakistan during May with games at Headingley, Leeds; Edgbaston; Sophia Gardens, Cardiff; and the Kia Oval in London.

The World Cup kicks off on June 2 with the USA hosting Canada in Dallas, while the West Indies take on Papua New Guinea in Guyana. England and Scotland meet in Barbados on June 4, while Ireland start their campaign with a tough encounter against India in New York the following day.

The final takes place at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29.

England Men’s much heralded Bazball approach to Test cricket, with an emphasis on positive play has led to some of the most exciting Test Matches in history with England scoring at a much more rapid rate and pulling off some unlikely and memorable victories.

But after drawing the home Ashes series last summer, England endured a tough winter in India where the hosts emerged victorious by four games to one. Criticisms were levelled at England’s failure to adapt their attacking mindset to fit match situations. A break from Test cricket will give the team time to reflect, with Test coach Brendon McCullum seeking to "refine" the team’s approach and telling his side not to be timid, but to come back bigger and stronger.

Their first challenge comes in July when they welcome the West Indies for a three match Test series at Lord’s in London; Trent Bridge and Edgbaston. After that, they take on Sri Lanka, playing three Test Matches during August and September at Emirates Old Trafford; Lord’s; and The Kia Oval.

Then it’s time to wrap up the summer with Australia visiting in September for three T20 internationals at the Utilita Bowl, Southampton; Cardiff; and Emirates Old Trafford and a five-match one-day international series at Trent Bridge; Headingley; the Seat Unique Riverside at Chester-le-Street; Lord’s; and The Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.

England have a packed schedule in the winter of 2024/25 comprising of two three-Test series in Pakistan and New Zealand, white ball tours of the West Indies and India, and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

England Women spent the winter in India where they lost heavily in a one-off Test Match before clinching the three-match T20 series by two games to one. They travelled to New Zealand in March where they won the five-match T20 series 4-1 before embarking on a 50-over series. They began that series with a four-wicket victory thanks to a record unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 130 between Amy Jones and Charlie Dean.

Heather Knight’s team start the English summer with three T20 internationals in May against Pakistan at Edgbaston, Northampton and Headingley. The two sides then compete in a three-match one-day international series at The Incora County Ground, Derby; The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton; and The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford.

England square up against New Zealand again in late June and early July with a three-match one-day international series at Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street; New Road, Worcester; and The Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol. The two teams then clash in a five-match T20 international series at Southampton; The 1st Central County Ground, Hove; The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury; The Kia Oval; and concluding at Lord’s.

Next winter England will head down under to compete in the Women’s Ashes in Australia. Following a well-contested drawn and record-breaking Ashes series on home soil last year, Knight’s side will play a multi-format series including a four-day Test Match at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

England Disability fixtures and information on how to get involved in disability cricket is available here.

After a record year in 2023, The Hundred, English cricket’s new kid on the block, returns on Tuesday, 23 July at The Kia Oval, delivering a month of action in the height of summer.

Last year’s men’s champions Oval Invincibles will take on Birmingham Phoenix in south London in the competition’s first double-header, while women’s champions Southern Brave get going on matchday two in front of their home supporters in Southampton.

The often-controversial tournament, designed to attract new fans and grow the sport, saw 41 per cent of all tickets sold to families, 23 per cent to juniors and 30 per cent to women last year.

Thanks to The Hundred’s ongoing partnership with BBC Music Introducing, fans will again be able to enjoy music performances from a diverse line-up of artists and DJs alongside the cricket.

The Hundred Eliminator, where second- and third-placed teams compete for a place in The Hundred Final, is confirmed for Saturday, August 17 at The Kia Oval. The Hundred Final will take place on Sunday, August 18 at Lord’s.