New-style fixture list unveiled

The revamped domestic fixture list for 2006 has been unveiled with Nottinghamshire beginning the defence of their County Championship title against Yorkshire on April 19. The match at Trent Bridge starts five days after Nottinghamshire launch the season with the curtain-raiser against MCC at Lord's.

Although Notts begin on April 19, the Championship season starts a day earlier with newly-promoted division two winners, Lancashire, playing Hampshire at Old Trafford and Gloucestershire playing Somerset at Bristol in the second division.

However, the main feature for 2006 is the new structure to the one-day competitions including a zonal C&G Trophy and a new-style National League.

The C&G Trophy forms the first part of the one-day season with North and South zones comprising 10 teams each. Scotland join nine first-class counties in the north while Ireland form part of the south. The competition starts on April 23 when Hampshire, the defending champions, travel to Clontarf to take on Ireland. All the group matches are completed before the end of the June, but the final retains its position towards the end of the season, at Lord's, on August 26.

Twenty20 then takes over the calendar for a solid two week block from June 27 to July 11 with the quarter-finals two weeks later and the final on August 12. The third one-day phase of the season is the National League, which retains two divisions but is reduced to 40 overs with each team playing each other once. There are just two automatic promotion and relegation spots with the third decided with play-off between the seventh placed team in division one and the third in division two.

Other additions for the 2006 include home fixtures for England A. They will play Sri Lanka at Worcestershire on May 4-7 and Pakistan at Canterbury on June 6-9. West Indies A will also tour during the summer from mid-July to late August.

Notable dates for 2006 domestic season

April 14 - MCC v Nottinghamshire, Lord's
April 18 - County Championship starts
April 23 - C&G Trophy starts
June 27- Twenty20 Cup starts
July 18 - National League starts
August 12 - Twenty20 Finals day
August 26 - C&G Final, Lord's
September 20 - County Championship final round
September 24 - National League play-off