The draw for the inaugural Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup has been unveiled which will see Essex enter in the third round. The Eagles will face a trip to play the winners of the Round 2 fixture between Yorkshire/Derbyshire v Staffordshire/Cumbria.
Thirty-seven teams from across the three tiers of the women’s domestic structure will enter the knock-out competition, with the Tier 1 teams entering at Round Three.
The knock-out nature of the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup will give Counties in Tier 2 and Tier 3 the chance to pull off a giant-killing against fully professional Tier 1 sides, and today’s draw offers potentially intriguing routes to Finals Day for a number of teams.
Two all Tier 1 ties in Round Three means the competition will be guaranteed at least two teams from Tiers 2 or 3 in the quarter-finals.
It’s the first time the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup will be competed for, in what is the first year of a revamped women’s domestic game structure.
The competition will take place across May, utilising Bank Holidays at the beginning and end of the month, and will signal the first domestic silverware of 2025.
ROUND ONE (Ties to be played Monday 5 May)
Match 1: Lincolnshire v Cheshire
Match 2: Staffordshire v Cumbria
Match 3: Northumberland – BYE
Match 4: Yorkshire v Derbyshire
Match 5: Leicestershire – BYE
Match 6: Shropshire v Norfolk
Match 7: Cambridgeshire v Herefordshire
Match 8: Northamptonshire v Worcestershire
Match 9: Sussex v Buckinghamshire
Match 10: Suffolk – BYE
Match 11: Hertfordshire v Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire
Match 12: Middlesex v Kent
Match 13: Cornwall v Berkshire
Match 14: Wiltshire v Oxfordshire
Match 15: Dorset v Devon
Match 16: Glamorgan v Gloucestershire
ROUND TWO (Ties to be played Saturday 10 May)
Match 17: Yorkshire or Derbyshire v Staffordshire or Cumbria
Match 18: Leicestershire v Lincolnshire or Cheshire
Match 19: Shropshire or Norfolk v Northamptonshire or Worcestershire
Match 20: Northumberland v Cambridgeshire or Herefordshire
Match 21: Glamorgan or Gloucestershire v Sussex or Buckinghamshire
Match 22: Cornwall or Berkshire v Middlesex or Kent
Match 23: Wiltshire or Oxfordshire v Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire
Match 24: Devon or Dorset v Suffolk
ROUND THREE (Ties to be played Saturday 17 May)
Match 25: Surrey v Hampshire Hawks
Match 26: Winner of Match 24 v Bears
Match 27: Winner of Match 19 v Winner of Match 18
Match 28: Winner of Match 21 v Lancashire Thunder
Match 29: Winner of Match 17 v Essex
Match 30: Winner of Match 23 v The Blaze
Match 31: Winner of Match 20 v Winner of Match 22
Match 32: Somerset v Durham
QUARTER-FINALS (Ties to be played Saturday 24 May)
Match 33: Winner of Match 25 v Winner of Match 32
Match 34: Winner of Match 31 v Winner of Match 30
Match 35: Winner of Match 27 v Winner of Match 28
Match 36: Winner of Match 29 v Winner of Match 26
FINALS DAY (Monday 26 May, The Cooper Associate County Ground, Taunton)
Match 37: Semi-Final 1: Winner of Match 35 v Winner of Match 34
Match 38: Semi-Final 2: Winner of Match 36 v Winner of Match 33
Match 39: Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup Final
The semi-finals and final will be played as a three-match Finals Day, with the two semi-finals preceding the final, at The Cooper Associate County Ground, Taunton, on Monday 26 May.
