As the ink dried on the latest million-pound Indian Premier League contracts, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) unveiled its plans for the men’s 2025 County Championship season. The season appears largely unchanged from 2024, with minor adjustments involving the Kookaburra ball and the continuation of hybrid pitch trials. The Kookaburra experiment persists, despite vocal dissatisfaction from certain bowlers and outgoing Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart labeling it “the worst decision ever.” However, the early season experiment has been scrapped—after 16,817 runs were scored in the first two rain-affected rounds with only one result—and the Dukes ball will replace the Kookaburra during rounds nine, ten, eleven, and twelve in late June and July.
“There is a difference of opinion,” said Alan Fordham, ECB’s operations manager, who is responsible for fitting an increasingly packed cricket calendar into a six-month window. “But I think everyone understands the rationale behind it and that it provides opportunities to enhance bowlers’ skills, particularly with reverse-swing and increased involvement of spinners. Some batters absolutely love it, while bowlers might not be as enthusiastic, which in a way justifies the need for such changes.”
The ECB had previously agreed with the 18 counties that 2025 would be a year of consolidation, considering it impractical to implement major changes to the men’s game while simultaneously working on new county partnership agreements, finalizing major match allocations until 2031, and selling the Hundred teams, all while developing the new women’s structure.
This revamped women’s structure—featuring 335 county matches across Tiers 1-3, including seven flagship finals days, more days at county headquarters, and more night games—will align with the men’s game for the first time. Both versions of the competition will be sponsored by white-ball sponsors Vitality and Metro Bank. The Championship also welcomes a new sponsor in insurance company brokers Rothesay.
However, 2025 will only offer a brief pause for reflection: discussions are already underway with the professional game committee about 2026 and beyond. Meanwhile, world cricket continues to evolve, with the Pakistan Super League set to overlap with the English season in 2025, and a new ECB no objection certificate (NOC) policy expected this week.
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