Durham will Tyke on the White Rose in Trophy opener
DURHAM will host Yorkshire in their opening match of the season after fixtures for the Bob Willis Trophy were released.
All 18 first-class counties will take part in the one-off red-ball competition, which starts on August 1.
The trophy, separate from the County Championship, will comprise three regionalised groups.
Durham will face Yorkshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire, all at Emirates Riverside, all four games beginning on Saturdays through August, before a trip to face Nottinghamshire on September 6.
The two group winners with the most points are set to progress to a five-day final.
A special women’s domestic 50-over competition will also be staged this summer, featuring the eight new teams in the women’s elite domestic structure.
ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: “There has been a strong determination across the game to play men’s and women’s domestic cricket his summer.
“The fact we will owes to the significant work and collaboration across the county network.
“The efforts to deliver a new oneoff men’s and women’s competition, in addition to a shortened Vitality Blast, to meet the unprecedented requirements of playing professional cricket during a pandemic have been remarkable.
“It will be a fitting reward for all that work and for the patience of all county cricket fans, when the first ball is bowled in the Bob Willis Trophy next Saturday.
“To have this year’s first-class competition named in Bob’s honour is a perfect gesture to a great man who is sorely missed.”
Willis’ name will adorn the oneoff men’s red-ball tournament after his former England team-mate and close friend Sir Ian Botham proposed the idea as a tribute following his death last December.
Willis claimed a then record 325 wickets from 90 Test caps during an international career highlighted by his fierce determination and an endearing persona than won him admirers across the world.
Durham chairman Botham said: “As a player there was no better person to turn to in a crisis and as a man there was no-one more capable to make you smile and realise the beauty in life.
“He was an ardent advocate for the longest form of the game and, at a time when all of his great virtues have been needed by us all, I can think of no better person to name this tournament after.”