Bears start Championship at home to Derbyshire

The group stage fixtures of the Championship have been revealed today by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with Warwickshire joining Essex, Durham, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire in Group 1, and facing all teams home and away. The final fixture comes against local rivals Worcestershire on Sunday 11 July at new Road.

From Monday 30 August, the Bears will move into the divisional stage of the County Championship with the top two counties in each group progressing to Division One, and the other counties moving into Divisions Two and Three, where they will each play a further four matches.

The winner of Division One will be crowned the 2021 County Championship winners.

The five-day Bob Willis Trophy final will be played between the top two counties in Division One and is scheduled to start on Tuesday 27 September.

ECB Managing Director County Cricket, Neil Snowball, said: "We’re all looking forward to the return of the County Championship in 2021 after a very challenging year in 2020.

“Once again we have seen an innovative and collaborative approach between the ECB and the 18 First Class Counties that has enabled us to plan for 2021 with a new, County Championship structure for 2021 only, that is designed to be both exciting for players and supporters and also flexible to the possible ongoing impact of COVID-19."