Old Trafford to host Lancashire’s five group fixtures in 2021

All five of Lancashire’s fixtures for the 2021 County Championship group stage are set to be played at Emirates Old Trafford.
Lancashire’s Old Trafford will host five group stage games next yearLancashire’s Old Trafford will host five group stage games next year
Lancashire’s Old Trafford will host five group stage games next year

Earlier this year, the first-class counties agreed that next summer will welcome the return of the County Championship in a group stage format, which will then be followed by a division stage and ending with the showpiece Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s in September.

Over the course of the summer, all counties will play seven home four-day fixtures.

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For the group stage, which will run from April to July, the 18 fFirst-class counties have been split into three seeded groups of six counties.

Each county will play the other counties in their group both home and away – a total of 10 matches.

Lancashire will play in Group 3 alongside Kent, Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Glamorgan and Sussex.

The Championship returns on Thursday, April 8, when the Red Rose’s campaign will start with an away fixture against Sussex.

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Lancashire will then host Northamptonshire in their first home fixture at Old Trafford starting on Thursday, April 15.

The first red-ball Roses clash of the summer will be played at Old Trafford starting on Thursday, May 27, with the reverse fixture at Scarborough on Sunday, July 11, set to conclude the group stage. Following this, the top two counties in each group, at the end of the group stage, will progress to Division One, with the other counties moving into Divisions Two and Three, where they will each play a further four matches, with two at home.

The division stage will begin on bank holiday Monday, August 30, with the final round of matches to begin on Tuesday, September 21.

The winner of Division One will be crowned the 2021 County Championship winners.

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To conclude the red-ball campaign, the top two teams in Division One will then play for the Bob Willis Trophy in a five-day final from Monday, September 27.

Fixtures for the remaining domestic women’s and men’s white-ball competitions are set to be announced in early 2021.

Lancashire’s 2021 County Championship fixtures:

April 8, 2021 – Sussex v Lancashire, The 1st Central County Ground

April 15, 2021 – Lancashire v Northamptonshire, Old Trafford

April 22, 2021 - Kent vs Lancashire, Canterbury

April 29, 2021 – Lancashire v Sussex, Old Trafford

May 6, 2021 – Lancashire v Glamorgan, Old Trafford

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May 20, 2021 - Northamptonshire v Lancashire, The County Ground

May 27, 2021 - Lancashire v Yorkshire, Old Trafford

June 3, 2021 – Glamorgan v Lancashire, TBC

July 4, 2021 – Lancashire v Kent, Old Trafford

July 11, 2021 - Yorkshire v Lancashire, Scarborough