How the Royal London Cup will work in 2021

The Royal London Cup will return to the domestic schedule this summer following a hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Somerset are the defending champions after they defeated Hampshire at Lord’s in 2019 with Trent Bridge set to host the showpiece decider in August this year.

Here are some common questions about the Royal London Cup to ensure you are across all the key details:

WHEN WILL THE ROYAL LONDON CUP START?

The tournament will begin on 22 July.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT THIS SUMMER?

The 18 First-Class counties have been randomly drawn into two groups of nine teams.

Each county will play eight group-stage matches – four at home and four away – with the top three counties in each group progressing to the knockout stages.

The format for the knockout stages are:

Quarter-finals – 14 August (hosted by second-placed counties)

Group A Second-placed county v Group B Third-placed county

Group B Second-placed county v Group A Third-placed county

Semi-finals – 17 August (hosted by group winners)

Group A winner v Quarter-final winner

Group B winner v Quarter-final winner

The winners of the semi-final progress to the Royal London Cup final at Trent Bridge on 19 August.

WHICH COUNTIES ARE IN EACH GROUP?

Group A: Essex, Worcestershire, Sussex, Middlesex, Kent, Durham, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Lancashire.

Group B: Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Somerset.

The groups for the Royal London Cup were randomly drawn. The order that they were drawn appears in the above list and has determined the home and away ties.

Example: The first team in the Group will play at home to the second, third, fourth and fifth teams drawn, and away to sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. This continues – another example is the team drawn seventh; this team will play at home to teams drawn eighth, ninth, first, second, and away to teams drawn third, fourth, fifth, sixth.