Somerset will look to become the first side to win back-to-back T20 Blast crowns. A total of 14 counties have lifted the T20 Blast trophy since it was launched in 2003, but none have ever defended their title... is 2026 the year when history is made?

Somerset saw-off Hampshire at Edgbaston last September with a record run-chase to match the Hawks and win their third title. The teams renew rivalries as the 2026 campaign gets under way on Friday in a new-look format with a host of exciting players turning out for the 18 counties.

The Blast has been slimmed down this season and will all be played in one block before the start of The Hundred. A review into the white-ball domestic structure led by the counties - in consultation with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) - recommended the changes with an eye on player welfare and competition narrative.

The group stage has been reduced by two games to 12 matches per side, with the quarter-finals and Finals Day following on directly in July. It means the competition is wrapped up in one block, albeit with two County Championship rounds sandwiched in the middle of the 12 T20 fixtures in mid-June.

The two groups of nine sides have also been replaced by three groups of six, split into north, central and south sections as they were in 2020. The top two teams in each group plus the best two third-placed teams progress to the quarter-finals.

• North Group: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Durham, Yorkshire and Leicestershire
• Central Group: Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Birmingham, Somerset, Glamorgan, Worcestershire
• South Group: Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Middlesex, Essex, Hampshire

Each county plays the other teams in their group home and away - a total of 10 matches - with an additional home game against a county from outside their group and one away game against a side from another group.

22 May: Group stages begin

12 July: Group stages end

15 July: Quarter-finals

18 July: Finals Day (Edgbaston)

Somerset will begin the defence of their crown with a rematch of last season's final, hosting Hampshire Hawks in Taunton on Friday. Skipper Lewis Gregory came in and hit two sixes to help his side to a second title in three years last September and he told BBC Radio Somerset: "We've been incredibly consistent over five, six, seven years now. Then you get to a knockout fixture in Finals Day (and) it's all about one or two people coming off can win you a game. We've been mightily close to go three in three if you look back. It's a very tough format to be consistent and over 23 years no one's defended it so hopefully we can be the first this year."

After making the past three finals - losing to Gloucestershire in 2024 - Somerset coach Jason Kerr told BBC Radio Somerset: "We've seen how consistent we've been in terms of getting to Finals Days and actually only managed to win two in the last five or six. As one of the better teams in the country consistently you can still lose games by individuals having a great day out and that's been demonstrated time and time again. It's an incredibly difficult trophy to win but hopefully we can get that monkey off someone's back."

Hampshire have made finals day in four of the past five seasons and 11 times in the past 16 years. Russell Domingo replaced Adi Birrell at the helm this summer and the South African told BBC Radio Solent: "I'm looking forward to it. James Vince has arrived, so some fresh energy. Players will come in fresh and with a point to prove. We're looking forward to taking a break from (the County Championship) because it's been tough and it's a campaign where the side has been extremely successful over the past couple of seasons. Somerset are defending champions, an established side, a well-balanced side, we have got a few bowling niggles we need to manage, we've got our work cut out but we're looking forward to the challenge, it should be a good one."

South African overseas Tristan Stubbs remains on IPL duty while Ben Mayes and Sonny Baker are on England duty. Keaton Jennings (left) and Sam Billings (right) will seek to guide Lancashire and Kent back to the knockout stages in 2026.

Keaton Jennings, Lancashire skipper, is hoping to change the narrative around the Red Rose as 'nearly men'. Last season's semi-final defeat extended their run to eight straight seasons of making the knockout stages without adding to the lone title they won in 2015, with four of those defeats coming on Finals Day. Ahead of their campaign starting at Surrey on Friday, Jennings told BBC Radio Lancashire: "It's not often you start your T20 campaign down in the Big Smoke against Surrey so the boys are excited. We're going to have quite a few guys coming back, from the IPL, tournaments around the world and from injury, as the weeks unfold it could be a very different side. It's a good problem to have - getting to the knockouts and 'almost' winning - but let's change the narrative. We have 12 games between now and then, but let's get there again."

It's been six years since Notts last won the title and they have not made Finals Day since, failing to make the last-eight in the past two seasons. Outlaws bowler Olly Stone told BBC East Midlands Today: "It's an exciting time of the year, it's a switch of formats, an exciting format, one that you have to be at your best all the time. The last couple of years probably haven't gone the way we'd have liked them to but I feel we've made some good steps in the right direction and hopefully we can at least get a home quarter final, take that into finals day and bring the trophy home."

Notts welcome Yorkshire for their curtain-raiser, fresh off a huge win over Surrey in the four-day game but seeking just a second finals day appearance in 10 years. White Rose head coach Anthony McGrath told BBC Radio Leeds: "After a win like that you probably want to play (red ball) again. But a change of format is always exciting, hopefully we can start well and not be chasing our tail like we were last year in the group stage. We need to start the competition well, everyone's excited about the start of the T20."

Adam Hollioake took charge of Kent last year. Kent's run to the quarter-finals, where they lost narrowly to Lancashire, was a rare positive in an otherwise challenging 2025 season. Although his side have found their feet in Division Two of the County Championship, lying third after six matches, head coach Adam Hollioake told BBC Radio Kent: "I think T20 comes more naturally to this group. Last year, that was our best-performing competition, we got to the quarter-finals. Now it's the start of the competition, everyone will be out wanting to do well, and it's up to us to try and get off to a good start. We've had a real focus on preparations behind the scenes, which is hard when you've got four-day cricket going on. We've made some good additions to the squad and everyone's pretty fired up for it."

Sussex missed out on a knockout place last summer after a sixth-placed finish in South group. Head coach Paul Farbrace admitted "T20 comes at a good time" for his side though skipper Ollie Robinson will be rested ahead of joining up with the England Test squad.

Farbrace called on his batters to "step up" after recent struggles in the four-day game, and added: "I'm not doubting people in terms of commitment or effort. What I have doubted is perhaps [not showing] a little bit of guts when it was needed. We're now going into a phase of six T20 games where you've got to show a big heart. You've got to show a desire to be the man on strike who's got to hit the boundaries, or who's got to be under the high catch, or who wants to bowl the penultimate over when it's a tight game. Resilience is something we've talked a lot about in our dressing room, and I think over the last few years we've shown a lot of resilience."

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