2026 domestic season confirmed with County Championship and One Day Cup fixtures announced

Utilita Bowl remains host of the Women’s One Day Cup Final, which will be held on Saturday, September 19, as Hampshire will play 31 times at home across all formats next summer.

The season will begin on Friday, April 3 and conclude on Sunday, September 27.

Rothesay County Championship

Hampshire remained in Division One of the County Championship by just one point at the end of the 2025 season and will host Essex at Utilita Bowl in their opening match on Friday, April 3.

Champions Nottinghamshire will head south to Utilita Bowl from May 15-18 as Kyle Abbott enters his tenth season as a Hampshire cricketer – the 38-year-old picked up figures of 5-57 last time out against the Nottinghamshire as he surpassed 50 Championship wickets for the sixth time in his career.

The Rose and Crown will host promoted Glamorgan in the first week of May, and it will be only the seventh time the Welsh side will have visited the south coast this century. Hampshire then end the season as they host local rivals Sussex on Thursday, September 24.

Utilita Bowl hosts Women’s Metro Bank One Day Cup Final

Hampshire and Utilita Bowl played host to the inaugural Women’s One Day Cup Final earlier this year, where the Rose and Crown ended as runners-up, and the venue will remain host in 2026.

Georgia Adams’ side ended top of the table last time out and will kick off their campaign on Saturday, April 11 when they host Essex, the county where Head Coach Paul Prichard spent 20 seasons as a player.

Fans can expect England’s Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith to feature in the early rounds alongside Maia Bouchier and Freya Kemp. Reigning champions Lancashire visit in the run-in to the knockout stages, with both teams looking to get back to the south coast to tussle it out for the trophy again.

Utilita Bowl will host at least seven of Hampshire Women’s matches in 2026, with Yorkshire – new to Tier One – visiting in September. In their previous guises as Southern Vipers and Northern Diamonds, Hampshire and Yorkshire respectively won the 50-over competition four times in five years.

Men’s List A Side aim to reach back-to-back finals

Hampshire Men reached the final of the Metro Bank One Day Cup for the second time in three years this summer, as Nick Gubbins led from the front with over 700 runs in the competition when club legend Jimmy Adams took over the reins as Head Coach.

Nick Gubbins' side travel to Scarborough for an away match against Yorkshire in a repeat of this year's semi-final, before hosting Middlesex at Utilita Bowl on Friday, July 24.

Three further home matches follow against Durham (Sunday 2 August), Glamorgan (Wednesday 5 August), and Derbyshire Falcons (Tuesday 11 August). Hampshire take on champions Worcestershire Rapids on Sunday, July 26 at Visit Worcestershire New Road as the Rose and Crown hope to topple the title-winners.

The quarter-finals then take place on Friday, August 14 with the semi-finals two days later on Sunday 16 August followed by the Final at Trent Bridge on Sunday, September 20.

Full schedule is available here: www.utilitabowl.com/cricket/news/2026-domestic-season-confirmed-with-county-championship-and-one-day-cup-fixtures-announced/