Following the merger with the Lincolnshire Cricket Board, Lincolnshire County Cricket Club face the forthcoming season in good heart and are looking forward to an exciting and successful season in the three National Counties competitions in which they will compete.
In the Eastern Division One Championship they face strong opposition with home fixtures against Staffordshire and newly promoted Bedfordshire. Norfolk and Suffolk provide the away fixtures. The Eastern Division One winners will face the Western Division One winners in the Championship Final at West Bromwich in early September.
The T20 competition commences in mid-April with Lincolnshire’s opposition in their group being Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. The group winners will progress to finals day at Tring in May.
The Trophy competition, which involves matches of 50 overs per side, commences in late May. Lincolnshire’s group includes Cumbria, Northumberland, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire, the latter two having not played against Lincolnshire for many years. The first two in each group progress to the quarter-final stage with the final at Wormsley in late August.
The Lincolnshire XI will be captained by Joe Kendall who takes over from Carl Wilson who has stood down as captain after five successful years in the role. Mark Fell continues as the Head Coach of the First XI and together with Gary Brumby will manage the County’s Development XI. This team have a balanced and varied programme of fixtures including a three-day match, 50 over games and T20 matches.
The highlight of the season will be the First XI’s “showcase“ fixture against the first-class county of Durham at Grantham on Sunday, 31 July. Further details of this match will be issued in due course. Durham do of course have a number of high profile players in their ranks.
For more information on the Lincolnshire XI, please click here.