Revealed: Hampshire’s T20 Blast and Royal London Cup fixture list for 2021

Jimmy Adams pours champagne over captain James Vince after Hampshire won the 2018 Royal London Cup. The 50-over tournament returns in 2021 after being left off last year's fixture list due to the pandemic. Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images.

The T20 Blast will again feature 14 group games - up from last year’s 10 - while the Royal London Cup returns after a 12-month pandemic-forced hiatus.

Hampshire’s Blast campaign starts against Kent at Canterbury on June 9, with their third game - an ‘El Clasicoast’ derby date with Sussex at Hove the following Saturday - being screened live on Sky TV.

For the first time in Blast history, Hampshire will play two games on the same day – facing Essex and Sussex at The Ageas Bowl on Friday, July 16. The first match will take place in the afternoon with the second in the evening.

The Royal London Cup tournament starts shortly after the T20 group matches are completed, with counties divided into two groups.

The 50-over competition will be preceded with 20 matches between first-class counties and National Counties from July 20-22, where Hampshire will travel west to Dorset.

After the cup group stages, the quarters, semis and finals are shoehorned into the space of a week in mid-August.

The 50-over cup will run alongside the ECB’s Hundred competition, though no exact dates have been announced for the latter competition yet.

At present, the only Hampshire players signed for Hundred franchises are James Vince, Liam Dawson and Mason Crane, though others might follow later this month.

The RL Cup final will be held at Trent Bridge on August 19 with Somerset aiming to defend the title they won at Lord’s in 2019, beating Hampshire in the final.

Hampshire’s 2021 fixtures

T20 Blast

June

Wed 9 Kent (Canterbury)

Friday 11 Essex (Chelmsford)

Sat 12 Sussex (Hove)

Tues 15 Middlesex (TBC)

Fri 18 Surrey (Kia Oval)

Sun 20 Gloucestershire (Bristol)

Fri 25 Somerset (Taunton)

Mon 28 Middlesex (Ageas Bowl)

Wed 30 Surrey (Ageas Bowl)

July

Fri 2 Gloucestershire (Ageas Bowl)

Fri 9 Somerset (Ageas Bowl)

Fri 16 Essex (Ageas Bowl)

Fri 16 Sussex (Ageas Bowl)

Sun 18 Glamorgan (Ageas Bowl)

QFs: Aug 24-27

Finals Day: Sept 18 (Edgbaston)

National County 50-over game

July

20 Dorset (A, TBC)

Royal London Cup

July

Thurs 22 Essex (Ageas Bowl)

Tues 27 Sussex (Ageas Bowl)

Fri 30 Middlesex (TBC)

August

Sun 1 Lancashire (Ageas Bowl)

Wed 4 Worcestershire (Ageas Bowl)

Fri 6 Gloucestershire (Bristol)

Sun 8 Kent (Beckenham)

Thurs 12 Durham (Emirates Riverside)

QFs: Aug 14

SFs: Aug 17

Final: Aug 19 (Trent Bridge)