2020 t20 Blast

The 2020 Vitality Blast will be the 2020 season of the t20 Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league played in England and Wales.[1] It will be the third season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has been branded as the Vitality Blast due to a new sponsorship deal.[2][3] On 12 August 2020, the ECB confirmed the fixtures for the tournament.[4]

2020 Vitality Blast
Dates27 August – 3 October 2020
Administrator(s)England and Wales Cricket Board
Cricket formatTwenty20
Tournament format(s)Group stage and knockout
Participants18
Official websiteVitality Blast

Background

It was scheduled to start on 28 May 2020, and finish on 5 September 2020.[5][6][7] However, on 24 April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that no professional cricket would be played in England before 1 July 2020.[8][9] In late May 2020, the ECB looked at the scheduling of domestic cricket for the summer, with the t20 Blast likely to go ahead, including the traditional Final's Day at Edgbaston.[10] The ECB also confirmed that no domestic cricket would be played before 1 August 2020.[11][12] On 29 June 2020, the ECB confirmed that the county cricket season would begin on 1 August 2020,[13] with the format agreed in early July.[14]

On 7 July 2020, the majority of counties voted to start the tournament on 27 August 2020,[15] with Finals Day taking place at Edgbaston on 3 October 2020.[16]

Teams

The teams were placed into the following groups:[17]

References
  1. "First-Class Counties agree formats for shortened men's domestic season". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  2. "All First-Class Counties committed to playing same red-ball and white-ball competitions". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  3. "Bob Willis Trophy: Shortened red-ball competition named after ex-England captain". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  4. "Vitality Blast 2020 fixtures: Edgbaston Finals Day to conclude domestic season". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  5. "ECB announce domestic fixtures for 2020". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  6. "County Championship fixtures: Essex start against Yorkshire". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  7. "Championship and Hundred take centre stage in 2020 fixture list". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  8. "ECB announces further delay to the professional cricket season". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  9. "Season delayed until July as England-West Indies postponed". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  10. "County Championship could include Lord's final with hopes for August start". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  11. "ECB update on the domestic and recreational game". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. "Counties wait for ECB approval on August restart plan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  13. "Update on return to play for men's and women's domestic cricket". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  14. "County cricket: Delayed season given green light to begin on 1 August". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  15. "Counties vote to play red and white ball cricket when season starts on 1 August". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  16. "T20 Blast knockouts to be staged in October to boost chance of fans attending". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  17. "T20 Blast: Finals Day on 3 October and Bob Willis Trophy final on 23 September". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.