The Cricketer previews the start of the short-format competition as Worcestershire Rapids bid to become the first side to defend the title after their victory over Sussex Sharks on Finals Day last year
The third and final tournament in the domestic cricket season begins on Thursday as the 2019 T20 Vitality Blast kicks off with three fixtures.
Will Worcestershire be able to defend the crown they claimed in 2018?
The T20 Blast is English domestic cricket's 20-overs-a-side tournament.
The T20 Blast runs across nine-and-a-half weeks starting on Thursday, July 18. The competition begins a little later this year in comparison to last season due to the recently concluded World Cup and The Ashes which start next month.
Following the conclusion of the group stage, the quarter-finals between the top four sides in each regional group take place between Wednesday, September 4 and Saturday, September 7. The winners of the quarter-final matches progress to Finals Day, which consists of the two semi-finals and the final on Saturday, September 21 at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Sussex's Laurie Evans was the tournament's highest run scorer last year
All 18 first-class counties are involved in the T20 Blast with the sides split into two groups of nine, which are based on a geographical north-south divide.
Each side plays 14 matches, which includes playing six of the other sides in their group twice (one home and one away) and the other two teams once.
At the end of the group stage, the top four teams from each group enter the knockout stage of the competition, with the first-place side in one group facing the team that finishes fourth in the opposite group and the second-place team facing the side that finished third in the other group in the quarter-finals.
The winners of the four quarter-final ties then move on to Finals Day at Edgbaston, when the semi-finals and final all occur on the same day.
THE FULL T20 BLAST FIXTURE LIST CAN BE VIEWED HERE
The T20 Blast follows the standard 20 overs per side format where no bowler can bowl more than four overs.
In each innings, the first six overs constitute a powerplay where only two fielders are permitted outside of the 30-yard circle.
A maximum of five fielders are then allowed outside of the 30-yard circle for the remainder of the innings.
VISIT OUR T20 BLAST HUB
For any no balls bowled, two runs are awarded to the batting team, along with an extra ball which would be a free hit. All regulations could change in the event of lost overs due to inclement weather.
In the group stage, two points are awarded for a win, with one given in the event of a tie or no result. In the event of a tie in a play-off match, semi-final or final, a Super Over will determine the winner. Number of wickets lost in the inning does not apply.
In the event two or more sides finish on the same number of points in the group phase, most wins then net run-rate across the competition will determine who finishes higher.
Pat Brown took a tournament-high of 31 scalps in 2018
The 2019 T20 Blast can be followed on TV via Sky Sports Cricket HD (Sky channel 404) who will be showing selected fixtures across the competition including Finals Day on September 21 at Edgbaston.
Most of the non-TV matches are expected to be live streamed by the home county on their respective websites.
Selected matches will also be available via radio on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, including Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Worcestershire Rapids on the opening evening of the tournament.
THE FULL LIST OF SKY'S COVERAGE CAN BE FOUND HERE
Aaron Finch's unbeaten 131 for Surrey against Sussex was the highest individual score of the Blast last year
Winners of the competition in 2017 and T20 Blast quarter-finalists last year, Nottinghamshire are the bookmakers' favourite to prevail and repeat their feat of two years ago.
County Championship holders Surrey and Hampshire are the next contenders, with the latter having reached the final of this year's One-Day Cup final at Lord's.
Last year's T20 Blast finalists Sussex are good value for another run in the competition, but winners Worcestershire are quoted a little off the pace of the other aforementioned sides.
There have been five different winners in the last six years of the competition, and with the fast-paced nature of the format in an already busy schedule of a summer of cricket, this year promises to be another open competition.
However, most sides have acquired shiny trophy signings that they will want to exhibit over the course of the tournament.
Middlesex have brought in players at opposite ends of their career, but South Africa legend AB de Villiers, Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who was extremely economical at the World Cup, and England's World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan will no doubt keep the turnstiles busy at Lord's.
Surrey will welcome Aaron Finch, who was so destructive last year, back in to their ranks alongside South African legspinner Imran Tahir, who was a rare bright light for the Proteas during their miserable World Cup campaign.
Lancashire, who made Finals Day last year, will fancy their chances again with explosive Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell and allrounder James Faulkner enlisted as their overseas players.
Sussex, Yorkshire and Somerset will also boast fine overseas batting prowess in the form of Australia's Alex Carey, West Indies' Nicholas Pooran and Pakistan's Babar Azam, while the latter's international teammate Mohammad Amir, who will represent Essex, alongside Sussex's Rashid Khan, will be among the most exciting bowlers on show.
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Posted by J Robinson on 01/09/2019 at 18:30
Totally agree each county surely has two spare days to ensure all teams play each other home and away, who decides which counties are played once and what venue (home or away) surely this is not a sporting fairness
Posted by J Robinson on 01/09/2019 at 18:26
Totally agree each county surely has two spare days to ensure all teams play each other home and away, who decides which counties are played once and what venue (home or away) surely this is not a sporting fairness
Posted by Mr A Williams on 30/08/2019 at 10:23
unfair group competition if you don't play all teams twice surely?
Posted by Alan Brookes on 14/08/2019 at 13:03
In T20 cricket how is it decided who the two teams are that you only play one fixture against in your group?
Posted by Md Saheem Rayeen on 19/07/2019 at 13:32
Very Nice! Information I Am Happy .But Player Announcement .... So thank you Much ...The Cricketer
Posted by Nitesh on 18/07/2019 at 15:04
Match suru hone par paleyar aur aur koun tas jita hai bateye ga
Posted by ahmad Nawaz on 18/07/2019 at 14:22
matches in erplay far 11 Play
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