SOMERSET will start the 2022 LV= County Championship with an away match against Hampshire on April 7.

The first competitive home game of the year will be the following week on April 14, when Essex come to the Cooper Associates County Ground.

The County Championship returns to a two-division structure – for the first time since 2019 – with the opening seven rounds of the LV= County Championship set to be played from Thursday to Sunday on successive weeks.

There will be five rounds played during June and July – an increase from the three rounds during the same period last summer.

The Division One and Division Two titles are set to be decided in September, with the final round of fixtures to be staged from September 26 to 29.

Somerset will compete in Division One alongside: Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, Warwickshire and Yorkshire.

Reigning champions Warwickshire will visit Taunton on Thursday April 28.

Everyone loves a local derby and Somerset take on Gloucestershire in red-ball cricket at the Bristol County Ground from Thursday May 12th, with the return fixture in Taunton beginning on Monday September 5.

The 20th edition of domestic T20 cricket will begin on May 25 with a re-match of last year’s final as we visit Kent Spitfires.

The Vitality Blast group stage will take place over a 40-day period with 99 of the 126 matches to be played on a Thursday, Friday and at the weekend.

The quarter-finals will be staged from July 6 to 9 before the sold-out Finals Day at Edgbaston a week later.

Somerset's first home game in the competition will see Essex come to Taunton whilst the big local derby clashes against Gloucestershire will take place in Bristol on Thursday June 9th and at Taunton on Friday June 19.

The Royal London Cup final will return to a Saturday with Trent Bridge to host the decider on September 17.

Somerset are in a group with: Durham, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Warwickshire.

The competition will begin in August, with Somerset's opening fixture taking place at the Cooper Associates County Ground on August 4.

The group stage will conclude on August 23 with the knockout stages will be held on August 26 and August 30.