Trent Bridge’s seasonal NatWest T20 Blast debut in 2017 comes on the later than usual date of Friday 21 July, with Derbyshire Falcons the visitors.
The tournament has been shifted to the height of summer and – with Trent Bridge hosting an Investec Test Match between England and South Africa, starting on Friday 14 July – the Outlaws begin their campaign with away trips to Yorkshire and Birmingham.
Once the home action begins with the local derby against the Falcons, it will come thick and fast with a clash against reigning champions, the Northamptonshire Steelbacks, taking place the very next day.
The visit of the Worcestershire Rapids on Wednesday 26 July is handily placed on the day Nottinghamshire schools break for summer, with all remaining fixtures taking place during the holidays.
Yorkshire Vikings and Durham Jets are the visitors on Sunday 30 July and Saturday 5 August respectively, before the group stages conclude with back-to-back Friday nights against the Birmingham Bears and the Leicestershire Foxes.
Quarter-final fixtures get underway within four days of the regular rounds conclusion, and finals day is scheduled for Saturday 2 September.
As well as the opening weekend’s trips to Leeds and Birmingham, the Outlaws face away trips to Durham, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Worcestershire during the course of the tournament.
Nottinghamshire Club Captain Chris Read believes playing T20 cricket in a block around the summer holidays can be advantageous for both players and supporters alike.
“From a player’s point of view, having T20 in a block makes perfect sense,” he said.
“We’ll be able to get into a really good rhythm of performing in that form of the game, which should certainly benefit the standard.
“It also means the competition will attract more high profile players for longer periods of time. Hopefully we’ll see some really big names.
“It’s going to be in the middle of the summer during the school holidays, it’s always a great atmosphere at Trent Bridge and T20 cricket always provides a wonderful evening or afternoon of entertainment.
“Lots of families will come along; youngsters will be cutting their teeth for cricket because they’ve been attracted by the exciting format and hopefully we can reward them by getting on a roll.
“It’s been a competition where we’ve had great success in group stages, but not in the knockout phase.
“Last year, getting to Finals Day was a good achievement, but with the players we had at our disposal, we should have gone further.
“The squad next season will be broadly similar and I’d like to think we’ll go far in the competition.”
View the full list of NatWest T20 Blast fixtures here...
Nottinghamshire's full schedule accross all three formats will be revealed at midnight.
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