Durham Cricket Club announces fixture schedule for one day white ball games

Durham Cricket Club has announced its fixture schedule for this year's one day white ball games.

The side will start the season by taking on Yorkshire Vikings at the Emirates Riverside on the June 11. This will be the first chance for fans to watch cricket at the stadium since 2019.

Durham’s opening fixture against Yorkshire is the first of three Friday night matches, withLeicestershire Foxes and Derbyshire Falcons visiting Emirates Riverside to end the workingweek.

The seven-game home schedule also includes a Father’s Day fixture againstBirmingham Bears on June 20.

The Royal London Cup will return this summer, following a hiatus in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Durham travelling to Beckenham for their opening round of matches to face Kent on July 22.

The annual South Northumberland fixture is back for 2021, with Durham hostingGloucestershire at Gosforth for the opening home fixture, before back-to-back home games against Lancashire and Essex on August 5 and August 8.

Durham will also travel to Lincolnshire on July 20 in the newly formed NationalCounties fixture which takes place ahead of the Royal London Cup getting underway.

ECB Managing Director of County Cricket, Neil Snowball, said: “The stage is set for anexciting and important summer of domestic cricket for the First-Class Counties and thewomen’s regional teams.

“The Vitality Blast has established itself as a much-loved tournament while the return of the Royal London Cup, alongside the remodelled County Championship for this season, will be warmly welcomed as we all look forward to the summer.

“I am also delighted that we will shortly release the schedule for the women’s Regional 50over and T20 competitions. These competitions will not only showcase the deepening poolof talent in women’s cricket, but also further strengthen the professional pathway for ourfemale players.”