ESSEX County Cricket Club’s men will begin the new Rothesay County Championship division one season with a trip to play Hampshire, following today’s release of the full schedule for the men’s and women’s county season.
Chris Silverwood’s side will travel to the Rose Bowl for their opening four-day match, which will begin on April 3.
Essex will then play their first home game of the season against Somerset at Chelmsford, on April 10.
The 2026 Rothesay County Championship will be played in three blocks of matches – with each county playing a total of 14 matches.
Beginning our 2026 season with two trips to Southampton! 🛣️
💪 @EssexWomen
🦅 #FlyLikeAnEagle pic.twitter.com/h8oQP6tyNH— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) November 27, 2025
Each county will play six matches during the first seven-week block, with all matches during that period starting on a Friday. A mid-summer block of two games will be staged in June – with each county playing twice.
The third block of matches begins on August 20 with each county playing six matches to complete the season. The final round begins on September 24.
Essex Women will also begin their season with a game at Hampshire in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, on April 11.
The groups for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup Men’s Competition were randomly drawn, with each county playing each county in their group once.
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Essex are in Group B, along with Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Middlesex, Sussex Sharks, Worcestershire Rapids and Yorkshire.
The three Metro Bank One-Day Cup finals will be staged over the weekend of September 19-20.
The Metro Bank One-Day Cup Women’s Competition final will again be hosted by the Utilita Bowl in Southampton on Saturday, September 19.
On the following day both the Metro Bank One-Day Cup Men’s Final (Trent Bridge) and Metro Bank One-Day Cup Women’s League 2 Final (Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol) are scheduled to be played.
📈 We'll be aiming to continue our strong white-ball form throughout the 2026 @OneDayCup!
Our full 2026 fixture list 🔗 https://t.co/NdVSN4Dx98
🦅 #FlyLikeAnEagle pic.twitter.com/hDYNDj95hw— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) November 27, 2025
The Toyota Disability Premier League will enter its fifth season next year with Tridents looking to defend the title they won in a bowl-out against Pirates.
It was the second DPL title for captain Liam O’Brien’s team and both teams will return to Loughborough on 5 July for a rematch.
The competition retains its three-weekend group-stage format – with each team playing twice each weekend.
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The Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup, which was introduced last season, will see 37 counties looking to reach Finals Day on August 29.
Twenty-eight counties enter the competition in the opening round before the nine Tier 1 counties are introduced in round three.
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