The competition will begin on Tuesday, July 23, with Birmingham Phoenix versus Oval Invincibles at Edgbaston, and conclude at Lord's on Sunday, August 18
The schedule has been confirmed for the fourth edition of The Hundred.
The eight-team men's and women's competitions will begin on Tuesday, July 23, with Birmingham Phoenix versus Oval Invincibles at Edgbaston, and conclude at Lord's on Sunday, August 18.
The group stage will run until Thursday, August 15, with the Eliminator taking place at the Kia Oval two days later on Saturday, August 17.
Reigning men's champions Oval Invincibles are in action on the first day of this year's tournament while women's champions Southern Brave will kick off their title defence on Wednesday, July 24, when they face London Spirit at the Utilita Bowl.
Men's champions Oval Invincibles will begin their title defence against Birmingham Phoenix [Julian Finney/Getty Images]
Lord's will once again host both finals [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
As in previous years, all of the matches are double headers, with the women's fixture occupying the first slot.
The first eight to 10 fixtures in the men's competition will see restricted availability for England's men's Test players due to clashes with the second (July 18-22) and third Tests (July 26-30) against West Indies. However, the subsequent Test series against Sri Lanka isn't scheduled to start until August 21, three days after the final.
There are no scheduling clashes in the women's competition, although England's five-match T20I series against New Zealand only finishes on July 17.
Of greater concern for the ECB is the potential clash with Major League Cricket, which is slated to start on July 4.
Southern Brave batter, Danni Wyatt, said: "I can't wait for The Hundred. It's such a fun competition to play in, and the crowds are getting better and better. You can really feel the difference at The Hundred in terms of the number of young people and families in the crowd.
"It's done so much for the women's game and the lift in both the profile and the standard of women's cricket has been amazing."
Oval Invincibles allrounder Sam Curran praised the development of the format, adding: "I think the third year of The Hundred was a huge step forward for the competition.
"We know the standard is top quality but with every year we play it the format itself becomes part of the event. We saw so many close finishes last year in the men's competition and close contests are so good for bringing fans in.
"We'd love to be back at Lord's in August to try and defend our trophy but we're also looking forward to getting back out in front of our fans at the Kia Oval."
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