2011 English Domestic Season

SKY Sports will show every county at least four times this summer, with at least 68 live fixtures between April and September.

The summer schedule includes coverage from the Clydesdale Bank 40, Friends Provident t20 and the LV= County Championship plus women’s and under-19s internationals. The first match of the domestic season is defending Clydesdale Bank 40 champions Warwickshire Bears against Friends Provident t20 champions Hampshire Royals on 24 April.

The live schedule includes:

• Clydesdale Bank 40: Coverage begins on 24 April and features 30 live group matches, including 18 day-nighters, both semi finals and the final live from Lord’s in September.

• Friends Provident t20: The first match is a repeat of last year’s thrilling final between holders Hampshire and Somerset in the first of a record 36 live matches, including all four quarter finals live and the finals day from Edgbaston in its entirety.

• LV= COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP: Two matches from the LV= County Championship will be shown this summer, including defending county champions Nottinghamshire against Sussex at Hove on 10-13 May, with the climax to the competition between 12-15 September.

• WOMEN’S AND UNDER-19s: Four NatWest Women’s International T20 matches to be covered including England against New Zealand, Australia and India plus the final in June, whilst England’s under-19s contest a One Day International against South Africa.

Paul King, cricket executive producer for Sky Sports, said: “This schedule provides viewers with the chance to follow every county and each competition with plenty of fascinating match-ups as the summer unfolds. With commitment to the game at every level including coverage of domestic, England’s women’s and under-19s teams, it will be a very exciting summer of cricket.”

In the Sky Sports commentary box for county cricket are some of the biggest names from the sport including Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Bob Willis, David Lloyd, Michael Holding, Nick Knight and Paul Allott. County coverage is presented by Ian Ward and Charles Colvile with daily reports, news and views featured on Sky Sports News and skysports.com.

County cricket is part of Sky’s year round coverage that included England’s Ashes victory in Australia and the ongoing Commonwealth series. Sky Sports’ live schedule for 2011 includes the ICC Cricket World Cup which starts this month, all of England’s home npower Test Series, NatWest One-Day International Series and NatWest International T20 matches against Sri Lanka and India, England’s ODI against Ireland in August and England’s winter tour to India in October.

2011 COUNTY CRICKET EXCLUSIVELY LIVE ON SKY SPORTS

Clydesdale Bank 40

Sunday 24 April Hampshire v Warwickshire
Monday 25 April Leicestershire v Scotland
Sunday 1 May Kent v Worcestershire
Monday 2 May Yorkshire v Derbyshire
Friday 6 May Glamorgan v Essex d/n
Sunday 8 May Somerset v Gloucestershire
Sunday 15 May Leicestershire v Warwickshire
Tuesday 17 May Middlesex v Worcestershire d/n
Friday 20 May Hampshire v Northants d/n
Sunday 22 May Lancashire v Nottinghamshire
Wednesday 25 May Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire d/n
Sunday 17 July Cbefore0 TBC
Monday 18 July Lancashire v Somerset d/n
Tuesday 19 July Hampshire v Durham d/n
Wednesday 20 July Essex v Glamorgan d/n
Tuesday 26 July Warwckshire v Hampshire d/n
Wednesday 27 July Sussex v Yorkshire d/n
Thursday 28 July Middlesex v Derbyshire d/n
Wednesday 3 August Surrey v Northants d/n
Thursday 4 August Derbyshire v Worcestershire d/n
Friday 5 August Lancashire v Gloucestershire d/n
Monday 15 August Somerset v Nottinghamshire d/n
Tuesday 16 August Kent v Middlesex d/n
Wednesday 17 August Warwickshire v Surrey d/n
Tuesday 23 August Sussex v Kent d/n
Wednesday 24 August Gloucestershire v Somerset d/n
Monday 29 August Cbefore0 TBC
Sunday 4 September Cbefore0 Semi Finals (both)
Saturday 17 September CB 40 Final

Friends Provident t20

Wednesday 1 June Hampshire v Somerset d/n
Thursday 2 June Durham v Warwickshire
Wednesday 8 June Lancashire v Leicestershire
Thursday 9 June Northants v Durham
Friday 10 June Lancashire v Yorkshire
Saturday 11 June Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire
Sunday 12 June Yorkshire v Northants
Monday 13 June Surrey v Essex d/n
Tuesday 14 June Sussex v Somerset d/n
Wednesday 15 June Derbyshire v Worcestershire
Tuesday 21 June Glamorgan v Essex d/n
Wednesday 22 June Yorkshire v Derbyshire
Thursday 23 June Essex v Hampshire d/n
Friday 24 June Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire

Sunday 26 June Somerset v Glamorgan
Monday 27 June Hampshire v Sussex
Wednesday 29 June Leicestershire v Yorkshire
Thursday 30 June Hampshire v Kent d/n
Saturday 2 July Essex v Middlesex
Monday 4 July Surrey v Sussex d/n
Tuesday 5 July Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire
Thursday 7 July Middlesex v Surrey d/n
Friday 8 July Kent v Sussex
Sunday 10 July Gloucestershire v Glamorgan
Monday 11 July Warwickshire v Durham
Tuesday 12 July Northants v Lancashire
Wednesday 13 July T20 TBC
Thursday 14 July T20 TBC
Friday 15 July T20 TBC
Saturday 6 August T20 QF Double Header
Sunday 7 August T20 QF
Monday 8 August T20 QF
Saturday 27 August T20 Finals Day

LV= County Championship

Tuesday 10 - 13 May Sussex Nottinghamshire
Monday 12 – 15 September tbc tbc

NatWest Women’s International T20

Thursday 23 June England New Zealand
Saturday 25 June England Australia
Sunday 26 June England India
Monday 27 June Final TBC

Under-19s One-Day International

Saturday 16 July England South Africa

Warwickshire have been docked eight County Championship points after their Edgbaston pitch used for the Worcestershire match was rated "poor".

An England & Wales Cricket Board panel comprising David Hughes and Tony Pigott ruled the pitch had demonstrated "excessive unevenness of bounce."

Worcestershire batsman Vikram Solanki was taken to hospital after being hit on the head by a delivery in the game.

The panel had already convened to look at the pitch before Solanki was struck.

Hughes had arrived at Edgbaston on Thursday to take a look at the strip and in Friday's shortened, rain-hit third day 12 wickets fell.

The deduction means Warwickshire now have 45 points, though the Bears could offset that by going on to win the match.

After declaring on 173-8, having not enforced the follow-on, Warwickshire had the visitors on 36-3 before rain stopped play.

CRICKET'S rising star Chris Metters has been dubbed the 'Ice Man' after his dream debut for Warwickshire against Worcestershire in the LV County Championship.

Metters, the former Exmouth cricketer and Exeter City Academy scholar, took six wickets for 65 runs on his First Class bow as Worcestershire were bowled out for 228 in their first innings last week.

They were the best figures ever posted by any Warwickshire bowler on his First Class debut.

Warwickshire went on to win by 218 runs and had victory almost in the bag before the 20-year-old left-armer got on to bowl again.

And with 27 not out in Warwickshire's first innings, to add to his wickets, it was a debut performance to savour.

Ashley Giles, the former England spinner and Ashes winner in charge of cricket at Warwickshire, thinks Metters is a cool customer with the right attitude to First Class cricket.

"We are very impressed with him – his temperament is fantastic," Giles said.

"We have not known him for long, but in the short space of time he has been here he struck me how cool he is and that he just gets on with things.

"He's very similar to Neil Smith, someone I played a lot of cricket with.

"He's very calm, almost an ice man in the way that he doesn't get flustered and just gets on with things."

Giles himself knows a thing or two about spin bowling, having taken 143 wickets in his 43 Test matches and a First Class total of 539 costing less than 30 apiece.

And he has been impressed with Metters' approach. "It's early days for him. He's got a lot to learn and he's still learning about spin bowling," Giles said.

"But he has got a lot of the elements you are looking for. He spins it, he looks quite economical and simple, he drops the ball quite quickly and he learns quickly.

"He doesn't seem to get flustered. He's got a quicker ball and good variations of pace, which probably comes from having bowled seamers.

"All that together makes him interesting. He worked on a new run-up last week and this was the first game that he really tried it in. He was walking in and he was losing a bit of rhythm doing that.

"Now he's trotting in. He got a bit tight on the front foot and he was no balled a couple of times.

"It worries you that it might put him off, but he settled in quickly and it's nice to see a youngster come in and do so well on his debut.

"He's learning his trade so hopefully I can help him with the tacticals and technicals."