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Vitality Blast

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NatWest t20 Blast
File:NatWest t20 Blast logo.jpg
Countries England
 Wales
AdministratorECB
FormatT20
First edition2014
Tournament formatGroup stage and knockout
Number of teams18
Current championNottinghamshire Outlaws (1st title)
TVSky Sports
Websiteecb.co.uk
2018 Vitality t20 Blast

The Vitality Blast is a professional Twenty 20 cricket league in England and Wales run by the ECB from 2014. The league consists of the 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each. This setup, which was first announced in November 2013, replaced the Friends Life t20 competition as the main domestic Twenty20 competition in England and Wales.[1]

History

The Vitality Blast is the twenty-over competition featuring county teams from England and Wales.

Twenty20 Cup

The first official Twenty20 Cup matches were played on 13 June 2003, between the English counties in the Natwest t20 blast . The first season of Twenty20 in England was a success, with the Surrey Lions defeating the Warwickshire Bears by nine wickets in the final to win the first Twenty20 Cup Final. On 15 July 2004 Middlesex versus Surrey (the first Twenty20 Cup game to be held at Lord's) attracted a crowd of 26,500, the largest attendance for any county cricket game other than a one-day final since 1953.[citation needed]

The tournament saw six different winners in its seven years.

By the end of the 2009, the ECB had decided to implement a larger competition for the T20 format of the game. The Twenty20 English Premier League was a proposed cricket league to be run by the ECB. The league was to consist of 18 county teams and two overseas teams divided into two divisions of ten teams each. It was rumoured that the two overseas teams were to be a side fielded by Allen Stanford of the West Indies and the winners of the Indian Premier League.[2] After the disgrace of Stanford, this tournament was scrapped. The establishment of the Friends Life t20 contributed to the discontinuation of the Pro40 League,[2] and a second Twenty20 League (a revamped version of the outgoing Twenty20 Cup) to be held in July, August and September, played on Friday evenings.[3][4] This did not happen, and instead a modified 40 over league, the Clydesdale Bank 40 was implemented.

Friends Provident/FriendsLife t20

The Friends Provident t20 (renamed the FriendsLife t20 after just one season) was introduced in 2010 (see 2010 Friends Provident t20). The competition initially divided the eighteen counties into North and South groups, before reverting to the previous model of three divisions of six teams. This period of twenty20 cricket in England and Wales saw Leicestershire and Hampshire becoming the most successful sides, and in 2013 Northamptonshire won their first trophy for two decades.

NatWest t20 Blast

NatWest became the tournament sponsors in 2014, renewing a longstanding relationship the bank has had with the county game. The first year of the tournament saw 700,000 spectators attend the games, the most since the first year.[5] The tournament was won in 2014 by the Birmingham Bears, Warwickshire's specially-adopted name for the tournament, making it the first time a county trophy had been won by a team using a city name. The current holders of the trophy are Nottinghamshire Outlaws.

Vitality Blast

Vitality became the tournament sponsors in 2018 after signing a deal To become the title partner for four years.

Current format

There are 18 clubs competing for the t20 title. These clubs are initially split into 2 divisions (North and South), each containing 9 teams, for the group stage of the competition. During the group stage (from May to July)[6] each club plays 6 of the other teams in the same division twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. They play the other two teams only once, for a total of 14 games each. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a tie or if the match is abandoned. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then net run rate. At the end of the group stage, the top four teams from each group enter the knockout stage. The winner of each group will have a home match in the quarter-finals against the fourth team from the other group. The runners-up from each group will play at home against the third placed team from the other group. [7][8]

Finals day

The semi-finals and final of the competition are played consecutively on the same day and at the same ground, at the end of the competition. During finals day, there is a mascot derby, which is a race between mascots representing all 18 counties. Finals day is usually held at Edgbaston.[9]

Teams

Team Location Division Home ground Coach Captain
Birmingham Bears Birmingham North Edgbaston England Jim Troughton New Zealand Grant Elliott
Derbyshire Falcons Derby North County Ground New Zealand John Wright Ireland Gary Wilson
Durham Jets Chester-le-Street North Riverside Ground England Jon Lewis TBA
Essex Eagles Chelmsford South County Ground England Anthony McGrath Netherlands Ryan ten Doeschate
Glamorgan Cardiff South SWALEC Stadium Wales Robert Croft South Africa Colin Ingram
Gloucestershire Bristol South Bristol County Ground England Richard Dawson TBA
Hampshire Southampton South Ageas Bowl England Craig White England James Vince
Kent Spitfires Canterbury South St Lawrence Ground England Matt Walker England Sam Billings
Lancashire Lightning Manchester North Old Trafford England Glen Chapple England Liam Livingstone
Leicestershire Foxes Leicester North Grace Road England Paul Nixon TBA
Middlesex London South Lord's New Zealand Daniel Vettori TBA
Northamptonshire Steelbacks Northampton North County Ground England David Ripley England Alex Wakely
Nottinghamshire Outlaws Nottingham North Trent Bridge England Peter Moores Australia Dan Christian
Somerset Taunton South County Ground England Jason Kerr England Lewis Gregory
Surrey London South The Oval Australia Michael Di Venuto England Jade Dernbach
Sussex Sharks Hove South County Cricket Ground Australia Jason Gillespie TBA
Worcestershire Rapids Worcester North New Road England Kevin Sharp England Joe Leach
Yorkshire Vikings Leeds North Headingley England Andrew Gale England Gary Ballance

Results

See also: List of the competitive honours won by county cricket clubs in England and Wales

Template:Twenty20 results to now

Most successful teams

Leicestershire Foxes - 3 wins
Hampshire Royals - 2 wins
Northamptonshire Steelbacks - 2 wins

References

  1. ^ "County schedule for 2014 announced". 26 November 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b "ECB unveil new Twenty2". Cricinfo. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  3. ^ "New-look English T20 agreed". BBC. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  4. ^ ECB To Replace Pro40 With EPL T20 Competition
  5. ^ "Domestic T20 crowds break 700,000 barrier". ecb.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Fixtures & Results - NatWest T20 Blast 2014 in 2014". Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  7. ^ "NatWest T20 Blast" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Rules for ECB Competitions" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Behind the scenes at the NatWest t20 Blast launch". 30 April 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
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