The Royal London Cup will return to the domestic schedule this summer following a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Somerset are the defending champions after they defeated Hampshire at Lord’s in 2019 with Trent Bridge set to host the showpiece decider in August this year.
Here are some common questions about the Royal London Cup to ensure you are across all the key details:
WHEN WILL THE ROYAL LONDON CUP START?
The tournament will begin on 22 July.
WHAT IS THE FORMAT THIS SUMMER?
The 18 First-Class counties have been randomly drawn into two groups of nine teams.
Each county will play eight group-stage matches – four at home and four away – with the top three counties in each group progressing to the knockout stages.
The format for the knockout stages are:
Quarter-finals – 14 August (hosted by second-placed counties)
Group A Second-placed county v Group B Third-placed county
Group B Second-placed county v Group A Third-placed county
Semi-finals – 17 August (hosted by group winners)
Group A winner v Quarter-final winner
Group B winner v Quarter-final winner
:: The winners of the semi-final progress to the Royal London Cup final at Trent Bridge on 19 August.
WHICH COUNTIES ARE IN EACH GROUP?
Group A: Essex, Worcestershire, Sussex, Middlesex, Kent, Durham, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Lancashire.
Group B: Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Somerset.
The groups for the Royal London Cup were randomly drawn. The order that they were drawn appears in the above list and has determined the home and away ties.
Example: The first team in the Group will play at home to the second, third, fourth and fifth teams drawn, and away to sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. This continues – another example is the team drawn seventh; this team will play at home to teams drawn eighth, ninth, first, second, and away to teams drawn third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
HOW CAN I WATCH AND FOLLOW?
You can follow the Royal London Cup across Surrey’s channels. Every home match will be live streamed in its entirety with clips and updates shared across social media throughout the day.
CAN I BUY TICKETS NOW?
You should contact your local First-Class County for details on access to tickets and the terms and conditions that apply.
The health and safety of anyone attending matches this summer will remain the priority of the ECB and the First-Class Counties.
We continue to work closely with Government, and other sports, as we plan ways we can safely welcome supporters back to venues across England and Wales this summer.
Should the attendance of supporters at a Royal London match be affected by COVID-19 restrictions, each host venue will have its own communicated ticket refund and rollback policy.
