Men’s Metro Bank One Day Cup: Competition preview

Warwickshire County Cricket Club get their Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign under way next week, as they travel to the cinch County Ground to take on Northamptonshire.

2026-07-16T14:22+01:00

The competition sees the return of 50-over domestic cricket in 2026 and here’s everything you need to know before it starts…

How it works

The 18 First Class counties are split between two groups; Group A and Group B. Warwickshire are in Group A alongside Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset and Surrey.

The Bears will play all eight other teams in their group to decide their final position in Group A. Following that, the teams that finish top of Group A and Group B will progress straight through to the Semi Finals. For the teams second and third in each group, they will contest two Quarter Finals. The Quarter Finals and Semi Finals take place across three days in August, before the Final takes place in September.

Warwickshire fixtures

The Bears have a busy start to their campaign as they are on the road against Northants next Tuesday, before they travel to Nottinghamshire two days later. Here’s the full list of Bears fixtures;

Tuesday 21 July Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Warwickshire (County Ground, Northampton)

Thursday 23 July Notts Outlaws v Warwickshire (John Fretwell Centre, Sookholme)

Sunday 26 July Somerset v Warwickshire (Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton)

Wednesday 29 July Warwickshire v Surrey (Edgbaston)

Sunday 2 August Warwickshire v Gloucestershire (Rugby School)

Friday 7 August Leicestershire Foxes v Warwickshire (Uptonsteel Grace Road)

Sunday 9 August Warwickshire v Lancashire (Rugby School)

Tuesday 11 August Warwickshire v Kent Spitfires (Rugby School)

Ten years on

This year marks ten years since Warwickshire last won the One Day Cup. Back in 2016, led by Club legend Ian Bell, the Bears would finish in second place in the group before eventually beating Surrey in the Final.

The Bears had an outstanding squad, with the likes of Bell supported by an all-star cast that included Jonathan Trott, William Porterfield, Tim Ambrose, Rikki Clarke, Ateeq Javid, Chris Wright and Jeetan Patel.

A young Sam Hain impressed opening the batting, and Olly Hannon-Dalby would also play a part with the ball, with both set to feature again in 2026.

What happened last year

In last year’s group stages, Warwickshire finished fourth in Group B to narrowly miss out on a place in the Quarter Finals. Defeat by 21 runs in their final group game against Sussex ultimately cost them.

Worcestershire, who topped Group A after winning six of their eight group games, would go on to lift the trophy after winning two rain-affected matches in the Semi Final and Final.