Earliest start for English season

The English domestic season will begin earlier than ever before in 2012 with the first round of County Championship matches starting on April 5.

The ceremonial opening of the season will again take place in Abu Dhabi with County Champions Lancashire taking on the MCC from March 27. Lancashire then begin their County Championship defence against Sussex at Aigburth on April 12. They will play four matches in Liverpool, their adopted home for the 2011 season, and four at Old Trafford which is still undergoing construction work. The final round of four-day games get underway on September 11.

The biggest change in the calendar sees the Friends Life t20 revert back to 10 round-robin matches with counties in three geographical groups. Holders Leicestershire get the competition underway on June 12 with a day/night match against Nottinghamshire at Grace Road.

The t20 group stages run throughout June before concluding on July 8. Finals day will be staged in Cardiff for the first time on August 25.

The 18 first-class counties are again joined by Scotland, Netherlands and the Unicorns for the Clydesdale Bank 40. The start of the competition sees a repeat of last year's final with Surrey playing Somerset on May 4. The CB40 final will bring the curtain down on the 2012 season, the final scheduled for September 15 at Lord's.

The structure of the county game is all set to change again, however, if the recommendations of David Morgan's review are accepted for the 2014 campaign with a proposal to reduce the Championship to 14 matches, increase the t20 to 14 games and play 50-over cricket.

For the full fixture list click here.