Nottinghamshire will use a Kookaburra pink ball, rather than a Dukes, for their Specsavers County Championship Division One floodlit match with Worcestershire, which starts on Monday 25 June.

With Division Two games being played with Dukes balls, as was the case last year, the ECB have made the move to see how the two compare in performance.

This year’s series of pink ball games follow 2017’s inaugural set of fixtures in English domestic cricket.

Once again, all 18 counties will play a day-night fixture with it, but this year the matches will be spread across four rounds of fixtures, with Hampshire (against Yorkshire) and Northamptonshire (against Gloucestershire) staging the first two of the nine matches next week.

The bulk start on the same Monday as the fixture at Trent Bridge, including Essex v Somerset, Derbyshire v Leicestershire, Durham v Warwickshire and Kent v Middlesex.

The fixture between Sussex and Glamorgan at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove with be played in late July, while Surrey host Lancashire at the Kia Oval in late August.

“As pink-ball cricket looks likely to continue at international level, it is important for us to continue to provide competitive experience of those different playing conditions for county players.”

“The view of the ECB Cricket Committee when the first round of day-night matches was reviewed last autumn was that as pink-ball cricket looks likely to continue at international level, it is important for us to continue to provide competitive experience of those different playing conditions for county players,” said Alan Fordham, the ECB’s Head of Cricket Operations.

“This year we’ll be able to compare the performance of the pink Dukes in Division Two with the pink Kookaburras in the Division One fixtures.

“The spread of matches across a handful of rounds provides us with the opportunity to assess different conditions at different stages of the summer.

“We weren’t blessed with great weather for the pink ball round in 2017, so hopefully with matches in June, July and August, we might even get some warm summer evenings for Championship cricket at some stage this year.”

Durham, Essex, Nottinghamshire and Sussex will join Hampshire and Northants in hosting a day-night Championship fixture for the second year running, while Derbyshire, Kent and Surrey will be staging their first – although Derbyshire did have floodlit first-class cricket at the 3aaa County Ground last summer as they hosted West Indies in a three-day match.

Day-Night Specsavers County Championship matches

20-23 June: Hampshire v Yorkshire, Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire.

25-28 June: Derbyshire v Leicestershire, Durham v Warwickshire, Essex v Somerset, Kent v Middlesex, Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire.

22-25 July: Sussex v Glamorgan.

19-22 August: Surrey v Lancashire.

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T20 returns to Trent Bridge on 4 July with a 2017 Finals Day re-match of Notts Outlaws v Birmingham Bears. Tickets are £10 in advance for adults, £7 for over-65s & under-21s and £5 for under 16s. Secure your seats now.