2026 T20 Blast
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| Dates | 26 May – 18 July 2026 |
|---|---|
| Administrator | England and Wales Cricket Board |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | Group stage and knockout |
| Host(s) | England Wales |
| Participants | 18 |
| Matches | 115 |
| Official website | Vitality Blast |
The 2026 T20 Blast (also known as the 2026 Vitality Blast for sponsoring reasons) will be the 24th edition of the T20 Blast (currently known as the Vitality Blast), a professional Twenty20 cricket league played in England and Wales. The tournament is scheduled to run from 26 May to 18 July 2026.[1][2] The domestic T20 competition is run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and branded as the Vitality Blast due to the tournament's sponsorship.[3]
Somerset are the defending champions, having won their 3rd title during the previous season.[4]
The playing format is changed from this season; the two groups of nine sides are replaced by three groups of six split into north, central and south groups as they were in 2020.[5][6] Each county will play 12 group-stage matches – six at home and six away. Counties will play the other five counties in their group home and away, in addition to one home match against a county outside their group and one away match against another county from outside their group.
Teams
The teams are divided into the following groups[7]:
- North Group: Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Notts Outlaws, Yorkshire
- Central Group: Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Somerset, Warwickshire Bears, Worcestershire Rapids
- South Group: Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex Sharks