Fixtures Announced For 2015 Cricket Season

County champions Yorkshire will begin the defence of their title at New Road against promoted Worcestershire on the opening day of the 2015 season.

The new campaign will start on Sunday April 12 with eight matches across the two divisions. Division Two champions Hampshire host Sussex at in Southampton while Somerset take on Durham in Taunton while 2014 runners-up Nottinghamshire travel to Lord’s to face Middlesex.

The NatWest T20 Blast begins with eight matches on Friday 15 May including the champions, Birmingham Bears, travelling to midlands rivals Nottinghamshire. Beaten finalists Lancashire, for whom Andrew Flintoff returned after a four-year break last season, take on Leicestershire at Old Trafford in the opening round of matches.

T20 Finals Day will take place at Edgbaston on Saturday 29 August with the quarter-finals set for the weekend of Friday 13 August to Sunday 15 August.

The Royal London One-Day Cup gets under way over the weekend of July 25 and 26 with showpiece final taking place at Lord’s on Saturday 19 September. The final round of LV County Championship matches conclude the season the following week.

On the decision for the authorities to retain the format introduced last year, with county matches starting on a Sunday, Sky Sports pundit David Fulton said: "They are right to keep it the same as you never want to chop and change.

"If that happens, players and fans don't know what's going on, fans in particular need to know when the games are happening as in the past games have been starting all over the place.

"So starting from the beginning of the season you get a regular Sunday to Wednesday and then eventually in mid-may the Twenty20 kicks in on a Friday night which is great for the clubs as they can attract the crowds on that day."