2014 FIXTURES: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BEGIN AT HOME TO LANCASHIRE

Nottinghamshire will begin their LV= County Championship campaign against newly-promoted Lancashire at Trent Bridge on Sunday 6 April.

The 2014 fixture list, which was released this morning, will see Nottinghamshire start the season with five successive four-day matches scheduled for Sunday starts as the ECB reacts to a supporter survey which called for clear and consistent scheduling.

Notts Outlaws will play five of their seven home games on Friday nights throughout May and June in the re-branded NatWest t20 Blast while the Royal London One Day Cup, a 50-over competition, will have its group stage condensed into a five-week period from late July.

Members will be entitled to watch all of Nottinghamshire’s regular season games in the LV= County Championship, the Royal London One Day Cup and the NatWest t20 Blast in addition to two Under 19 One Day Internationals between England and Australia in August.

A simplified pricing structure for the 2014 season will see all domestic tickets (excluding knockout games) priced at £14 for adults, £10 for over 65s and under 21s and £7 for under 16s when purchased in advance.

Tickets remain on general sale for England’s Investec Test Match against India at Trent Bridge from Wednesday 9 July although the Royal London One Day International taking place on Saturday 30 August is sold out.

In a quirk dictated by the scheduling of England’s Investec Test Match against India, Notts will play just two days of cricket at Trent Bridge in July and 3 days of home cricket in August.

Nottinghamshire’s domestic calendar will end with an LV= County Championship match against Sussex at Trent Bridge unless the Outlaws can secure a place in the Royal London One Day Cup Final at Lord’s on Saturday 20 September.

Start times will be confirmed once Sky Sports have selected fixtures for live broadcast.

Click here for Nottinghamshire's 2014 fixtures.

COLLIER: THIS IS A SCHEDULE FOR THE FANS

ECB Chief Executive David Collier has praised the clarity of the new domestic schedule which will be retained for at least the next four seasons.

The schedule is based on the recommendations of the Morgan Review into the domestic game and extensive customer feedback from more than 25,000 county cricket fans.

“This schedule has been designed to make the needs of the fans our number one priority," said Collier, the forme Nottinghamshire Chief Executive.

"With nearly 70 per cent of T20 group matches scheduled for Friday nights, 67 per cent of LV=County Championship matches commencing on a Sunday and a school summer holiday slot for The Royal London One-Day Cup, this schedule meets the demand from fans for regular ‘appointments to view’ across all our domestic competitions.

“We welcome Royal London to our family of domestic cricket sponsors for the first time and are also excited about the role the NatWest T20 Blast will play in attracting a wider audience to our county game – with Friday nights providing the perfect opportunity for fans to combine a weekend night out with watching cricket.“

LV= County Championship
The first round of matches in the LV= County Championship will see last season’s Division Two champions Lancashire travel to Nottinghamshire for their opening match in the top flight on Sunday April 6th. Durham, the 2013 LV= County Championship winners, begin their title defence a week later with a trip to newly promoted Northamptonshire on Sunday April 13th.  

NatWest T20 Blast
The new NatWest T20 Blast competition kicks off in earnest on Friday May 16 with fourteen counties in action nationwide including the current domestic T20 title winners Northamptonshire who will take on Yorkshire at Headingley. Middlesex then take on Sussex and Essex at Lord’s 24 hours later on Saturday May 17 in the first domestic T20 ‘double-header’ played on the same day.

Friday night T20 action will be a consistent theme in the new-look county schedule with a total of 87 of the 126 group stage matches due to take place on Fridays over the 10-week course of the competition. Edgbaston will once again host Finals day on Saturday August 23 after the quarter final stages are completed over the first weekend in August.

Royal London One-Day Cup
The new Royal London One-Day Cup which replaces the Yorkshire Bank 40 competition and will be played in a 5O-over format in line with one-day international cricket begins on Saturday July 26 when last season’s YB40 finalists Glamorgan take on Middlesex, Lancashire host Yorkshire in a Roses clash, and Hampshire visit Derbyshire. The following day’s round of matches sees Nottinghamshire, winners of last season’s YB40 Trophy, travel to Sussex and fourteen other Counties in Royal London One-Day Cup action. Lord’s will host the inaugural final of the competition on Saturday September 20th.