Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket has been speaking about the reformatted white-ball competitions ahead of 2026.
Gavin Hamilton believes the reduction in both Vitality Blast competitions for 2026 will increase the quality of cricket on show.
Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket has said “I welcome it” following the move from 14 group games to 12 in both the men’s and women’s Blast.
Earlier this week, the ECB announced a revamp of three of their white-ball tournaments.
The women’s Tier 1 Metro Bank One-Day Cup, which Yorkshire will take part in, will increase from 14 group games to 16 ahead of the knockouts.
The men’s Blast will see the 18 counties split into three groups of six. Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes and Nottinghamshire Outlaws are all in Yorkshire’s group. Each team will play their rivals home and away, making 10 matches. The other two fixtures are made up by playing one home and one away game against counties from another group.
The top two teams in each group, plus the best two third-placed teams, will progress to the quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals will progress to men’s Vitality Blast Finals Day.
In the women’s Tier 1 Blast, Yorkshire will be grouped alongside the Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey and The Blaze. Each county will play six games at home and six away. They will play four counties twice and four counties once.
The top four counties at the end of the group stage will progress to women’s Vitality Blast Finals Day, which will include two semi-finals and the final.
Much has been spoken about the need for a reduction in the county schedule for player welfare reasons, with the format of the men’s Rothesay County Championship still to be confirmed.
Options on the table include retaining the current 14-game format, which Yorkshire supports, or reducing it to 12 fixtures per summer.
On the Blast, former England and Scotland all-rounder Hamilton said: “Something had to give, and I’m glad it has in white-ball cricket. I think it makes perfect sense from the players’ point of view, the scheduling point of view and adding a bit of clout to the competition itself.
“I welcome it. I’ve spoken in public on this, at our members’ forums, and I think it’s a good thing.
“Obviously, there’s been a pushback about the red-ball stuff, but I think everyone is on board with what’s going to happen with the white-ball side of things.
“All the players are quite happy with it as well.
“I really think this will strengthen both Blast competitions.
“It works out, I think, at around five or six days extra to mess around with throughout the year in terms of practice, preparation and just generally getting bodies in shape.
“It can’t do any harm whatsoever.”
As aforementioned, the format of the Championship remains to be decided.
“I don’t know what the timescale is on that,” said Hamilton.
“We’ve been very honest and very fair in terms of the communication to all the members and supporters for what we wanted with the outcome, and whatever it is, we’ll have to go with it.
“We value the competition, we all value the red ball and, more than anything, appreciate what it means to our members.
“Initially, we were erring on the side of the PCA’s recommendations around player welfare. But we have seen the passion the Yorkshire membership has for the Championship.
“So we’ll protect it as best we can and support the retention of the 14 games. That’s something we’re very much on board with.
