T20 Blast: Format, History and Key Facts of England's Domestic T20

The T20 Blast is the main domestic Twenty20 competition in England and Wales. Contested by the eighteen first-class counties, it is played mostly in the summer months and has been sponsored under several names, most recently as the Vitality Blast. It is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board and is widely regarded as the place where the Twenty20 format began as a professional competition.

How it began

The competition was first held in 2003 under the name Twenty20 Cup. It was created by the ECB to attract new spectators, with short matches played in the evening after work. The first edition was a success at the gate and drew crowds that county cricket had rarely seen. Surrey won the inaugural title. The format was soon copied by cricket boards around the world, and the first men's Twenty20 international followed in 2005, with the first T20 World Cup in 2007.

Format and rules

Each match is a Twenty20 game, with twenty overs per side. The counties are split into two regional groups, North and South, and teams play each other in a group stage with points awarded for wins. The leading teams from each group move on to the quarter-finals. The competition ends with Finals Day, when the semi-finals and the final are played at a single venue on the same day, a distinctive feature of the tournament that has become a popular fixture for supporters.

Names and sponsors

Like many domestic competitions, the event has changed its name with its sponsors. It began as the Twenty20 Cup, was later known as the Friends Provident t20, and from 2014 was called the NatWest T20 Blast. From 2018 it has been the Vitality Blast. The short name T20 Blast is used for the competition in general, and county sides often use nicknames in the format, such as the Lightning, the Outlaws or the Bears.

Counties and the wider landscape

The eighteen teams are Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire. Glamorgan represent Wales and the others represent English counties. Many English and overseas players take part, and the Blast has long been a development ground for England's white-ball cricketers.

Since 2021 the Blast has shared the English summer with The Hundred, a separate eight-team competition in a one-hundred-ball format. The two events are run side by side, and the T20 Blast remains the county competition for the traditional clubs.

Why it matters

The T20 Blast gives county members and casual fans a way to see live cricket at a low cost, and its fixtures are an important source of income for many counties. It also gives young players regular exposure to the pressures of limited-overs cricket before they move to franchise leagues or international teams.