The 2026 Vitality Blast returns with 18 counties divided into North, Central, and South groups, featuring 116 T20 matches from May 22 to July 18.
Somerset enter as defending champions, while Gloucestershire remain the most recent 2024 winners.
Yorkshire headline the tournament with a powerhouse lineup including Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jonny Bairstow, while Lancashire and Surrey also boast star-studded squads.
With international stars and emerging domestic talent across all teams, the 2026 season promises one of the most competitive and exciting editions in Blast history.
Teams Playing in the T20 Blast
All 18 counties are divided into three groups with key international stars and notable overseas signings headlining each roster.
| Group | Team | Key Players | Home Ground |
|---|---|---|---|
| North | Derbyshire Falcons | Samit Patel, Aneurin Donald | County Ground, Derby |
| North | Durham | Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Matthew Potts | Riverside, Chester-le-Street |
| North | Lancashire Lightning | Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt | Old Trafford, Manchester |
| North | Leicestershire Foxes | Rehan Ahmed, Rishi Patel | Grace Road, Leicester |
| North | Notts Outlaws | Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
| North | Yorkshire | Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow | Headingley, Leeds |
| Central | Glamorgan | Kiran Carlson, Sam Northeast | Sophia Gardens, Cardiff |
| Central | Gloucestershire | Chris Dent, Miles Hammond | County Ground, Bristol |
| Central | Northamptonshire Steelbacks | Ravi Bopara, David Willey | County Ground, Northampton |
| Central | Somerset | Tom Banton, Will Smeed, Lewis Gregory | County Ground, Taunton |
| Central | Warwickshire Bears | Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jacob Bethell | Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| Central | Worcestershire Rapids | Jake Libby, Adam Hose | New Road, Worcester |
| South | Essex | Sam Cook, Curtis Campher | County Ground, Chelmsford |
| South | Hampshire Hawks | Liam Dawson, James Vince | The Rose Bowl, Southampton |
| South | Kent Spitfires | Zak Crawley, Daniel Bell-Drummond | St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury |
| South | Middlesex | Sam Robson, Ryan Higgins | Lord’s, London |
| South | Surrey | Ollie Pope, Will Jacks, Jamie Smith | Kennington Oval, London |
| South | Sussex Sharks | Tom Alsop, Tom Clark | County Ground, Hove |
North Group Teams
Here are all the teams and their squads For T20 Blast 2026 from the North Group.
Derbyshire Falcons
Derbyshire rely on home conditions at Derby and a mix of aggressive young batters and crafty bowlers.
Samit Patel adds all-round experience while Aneurin Donald and Wayne Madsen provide firepower in the top order.
Nick Potts and Blair Tickner lead the pace attack with Fynn Hudson-Prentice offering seam-bowling depth.
Squad: Ben Aitchison, Martin Andersson, Amrit Basra, Yousaf Bin Naeem, Pat Brown, Harry Came, Zak Chappell, Anuj Dal, Aneurin Donald, AM Ghazanfar, Brooke Guest (WK), Joe Hawkins, Rory Haydon, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Caleb Jewell, David Lloyd, Wayne Madsen, Matthew Montgomery, Harry Moore, Jack Morley, Samit Patel, Nick Potts, Luis Reece, Alex Thomson, Blair Tickner, Mitch Wagstaff, Ross Whiteley
Durham
Durham’s squad is one of the strongest in the North Group with England stars Ben Stokes and Mark Wood providing world-class quality.
Alex Lees leads a batting lineup featuring David Bedingham and Scott Borthwick while Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, and Brydon Carse form a formidable seam attack. Jimmy Neesham and Neil Wagner add overseas depth.
Squad: Colin Ackermann, Kasey Aldridge, Will Alexander, Archie Bailey, Jake Ball, David Bedingham, Jack Blatherwick, Scott Borthwick, Brydon Carse, Graham Clark, Sam Conners, Paul Coughlin, Bas de Leede, Brendan Doggett, George Drissell, Zak Foulkes, Emilio Gay, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Daniel Hogg, Mitch Killeen, Alex Lees, Stanley McAlindon, Ben McKinney, James Minto, Jimmy Neesham, Callum Parkinson, Matthew Potts, Ben Raine, Will Rhodes, Luke Robinson, Ollie Robinson (WK), Nathan Sowter, Ben Stokes, Neil Wagner, Mark Wood, Codi Yusuf
Lancashire Lightning
Lancashire boast arguably the most star-studded squad in the Blast with Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, and James Anderson all on the roster.
Rocky Flintoff (son of Andrew) adds excitement while Saqib Mahmood and Luke Wood provide pace depth. Tom Hartley’s left-arm spin rounds off a genuine title-contending squad.
Squad: James Anderson, Tom Aspinwall, Tom Bailey, George Balderson, Charlie Barnard, George Bell (WK), Jack Blatherwick, Josh Bohannon, Josh Boyden, Jos Buttler (WK), Rocky Flintoff, Kesh Fonseka, Chris Green, Luke Hands, Marcus Harris, Tom Hartley, Matty Hurst (WK), Keaton Jennings, Michael Jones, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Joe Moores (WK), Anderson Phillip, Phil Salt, Arav Shetty, Harry Singh, Mitch Stanley, Ollie Sutton, Ashton Turner, John Turner, Luke Wells, Will Williams, Luke Wood
Leicestershire Foxes
Leicestershire’s squad features Rehan Ahmed and experienced campaigners like Rishi Patel and Ian Holland.
Peter Handscomb and Ben Cox provide wicketkeeping options while Josh Hull’s left-arm pace adds variety.
Shan Masood strengthens the top order with international experience from Pakistan’s Test setup.
Squad: Rehan Ahmed, Sol Budinger, Ben Cox (WK), Stephen Eskinazi, Alex Green, Ben Green, Peter Handscomb (WK), Lewis Hill (WK), Ian Holland, Josh Hull, Louis Kimber (WK), Ben Mike, Rishi Patel, Matt Salisbury, Tom Scriven, Shan Masood, Jonty Tattersall (WK), Josh Thomas, Liam Trevaskis, Logan van Beek, Roman Walker, Sam Wood, Chris Wright
Nottinghamshire Outlaws
Two-time champions Notts Outlaws have assembled a powerful squad featuring Joe Clarke, Ben Duckett, and Moises Henriques as overseas options.
Olly Stone provides express pace while Daniel Sams and Liam Patterson-White cover the middle overs with spin. Calvin Harrison adds seam-bowling depth.
Squad: Muhammad Abbas, Farhan Ahmed, Joe Clarke (WK), Ben Duckett (WK), Tom Giles, Haseeb Hameed, Calvin Harrison, Byron Hatton-Lowe, James Hayes, Jack Haynes, Moises Henriques, Travis Holland, Brett Hutton, Lyndon James, Sammy King, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rob Lord, Freddie McCann, Conor McKerr, Ben Martindale, Matthew Montgomery, Francis Moore, Fergus O’Neill, Liam Patterson-White, Dillon Pennington, Joe Pocklington, Daniel Sams, Dane Schadendorf (WK), Sam Seecharan, Ben Slater, Olly Stone, Josh Tongue, Kyle Verreynne (WK)
Yorkshire
Yorkshire have gone big with international signings, recruiting Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Imam-ul-Haq, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abdullah Shafique, and Adil Rashid in one of the most powerful batting lineups in Blast history.
Ben Coad, Matt Milnes, and Will O’Rourke lead the seam attack while Dom Bess provides spin support.
Squad: Abdullah Shafique, Mayank Agarwal, Jawad Akhtar, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Finlay Bean (WK), Will Bennison, Dom Bess, Harry Brook, Jordan Buckingham, Jafer Chohan, Ben Cliff, Ben Coad, Harry Duke (WK), Matthew Firbank, Ruturaj Gaikwad, George Hill, Imam-ul-Haq, Noah Kelly (WK), Will Luxton, Adam Lyth, Dawid Malan, Matt Milnes, Dan Moriarty, Will O’Rourke, Adil Rashid, Matthew Revis, Joe Root, Ben Sears, Will Sutherland, Jonny Tattersall (WK), Jordan Thompson, Yash Vagadia, Alex Wade, James Wharton, Jack White
Central Group Teams
Here are all the teams and their squads from the Central Group.
Glamorgan
Glamorgan have added Australian star Marnus Labuschagne alongside Colin Ingram and Imad Wasim to strengthen their batting and spin.
Shoaib Bashir provides off-spin while Matt Kuhnemann adds left-arm variety from Australia. Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson anchor the middle order at Sophia Gardens.
Squad: Shoaib Bashir, Tom Bevan, Eddie Byrom, Kiran Carlson, Chris Cooke (WK), Mason Crane, Dan Douthwaite, Asitha Fernando, Romano Franco, Andy Gorvin, James Harris, Henry Hurle (WK), Imad Wasim, Colin Ingram, Ben Kellaway (WK), Hayden Kerr, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ned Leonard, Jamie McIlroy, Ben Morris, Callum Nicholls, Sam Northeast, Tom Norton, Billy Root, Will Smale (WK), Asa Tribe, Zain ul Hassan, Timm van der Gugten
Gloucestershire
Defending 2024 T20 Blast champions Gloucestershire have strengthened with Cameron Green from Australia and Cameron Bancroft providing experienced overseas talent.
Marchant de Lange leads the pace attack while Chris Dent and James Bracey anchor the batting. Miles Hammond and D’Arcy Short add explosive firepower at the top.
Squad: Daz Ahmed, Zaman Akhter, Archie Bailey, Cameron Bancroft (WK), Tommy Boorman, James Bracey (WK), Ben Charlesworth, Luke Charlesworth, Marchant de Lange, Chris Dent, Kamran Dhariwal, Dylan Driscoll, Dom Goodman, Cameron Green, Miles Hammond, Alfie Johnson, Ed Middleton, Craig Miles, Todd Murphy, Robbie O’Donnell, David Payne, Luke Pearson-Taylor, Joe Phillips, Ollie Price, Tom Price, Aman Rao, Josh Shaw, D’Arcy Short, Ajeet Singh Dale, Tom Smith, Ahmed Syed, Jack Taylor, Matt Taylor, James Trodd, Graeme van Buuren
Northamptonshire Steelbacks
Two-time champions Northamptonshire feature Yuzvendra Chahal as their headline overseas signing alongside Ravi Bopara and David Willey providing experienced all-round depth. George Scrimshaw leads the pace attack while Tiaan Louw and Ashton Agar add spin and bowling variety across the middle overs.
Squad: Ashton Agar, George Bartlett, Ravi Bopara, Matthew Breetzke (WK), Justin Broad, Arush Buchake (WK), Yuzvendra Chahal, Harry Conway, Liam Guthrie, Calvin Harrison, Freddie Heldreich, Rob Keogh, Dom Leech, Tiaan Louw, Gus Miller, Krish Patel, Lloyd Pope, Luke Procter, Nirvan Ramesh, Kaif Ramzan, Lewis Reeder, Tim Robinson, James Sales, Ben Sanderson, George Scrimshaw, Aadi Sharma, Jordan Strydom, Stuart van der Merwe, Aryaman Varma, Ricardo Vasconcelos (WK), Raphy Weatherall, Ben Whitehouse, David Willey, Saif Zaib
Somerset
Defending champions Somerset have retained their core title-winning squad with Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Banton, Lewis Gregory, and Craig Overton forming the backbone.
New Zealand’s Matt Henry adds pace firepower while Migael Pretorius provides death-overs quality. Tom Lammonby and Will Smeed are among the most destructive young batters in the competition.
Squad: Tom Abell, Kasey Aldridge, Jake Ball, Tom Banton (WK), Shoaib Bashir, Oscar Coleman, Josh Davey, Sean Dickson, Lewis Goldsworthy, Ben Green, Lewis Gregory, Matt Henry, Fin Hill, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Lammonby, Jack Leach, Seb Linnitt, Riley Meredith, Bertie Michael, Alfie Ogborne, Craig Overton, Migael Pretorius, James Rew (WK), Thomas Rew (WK), Kian Roberts (WK), Will Smeed, James Theedom, Josh Thomas, Andy Umeed, Archie Vaughan, Zach Vukusic
Warwickshire Bears
Warwickshire feature Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, and Jacob Bethell as England internationals, alongside New Zealand’s Tom Latham and Pakistan’s Hassan Ali.
Rob Yates and Sam Hain anchor the batting while Danny Briggs and Dan Mousley provide spin options across a well-balanced squad with depth in every department.
Squad: Moeen Ali, Taz Ali, Ethan Bamber, Ed Barnard, Jacob Bethell, Ben Blakemore, Michael Booth, Danny Briggs, Alex Davies (WK), Vishwa Fernando, George Garton, Levi Gekis, Nathan Gilchrist, Richard Gleeson, Sam Hain, Olly Hannon-Dalby, Hassan Ali, Vansh Jani, Tom Latham (WK), Jake Lintott, Zen Malik, Craig Miles, Dan Mousley, Corey Rocchiccioli, Chris Rushworth, Hamza Shaikh, Che Simmons, Kai Smith (WK), Adam Sylvester, Beau Webster, Chris Woakes, Theo Wylie, Rob Yates, Will Young
Worcestershire Rapids
2018 champions Worcestershire have recruited overseas stars Henry Nicholls from New Zealand and Ben Dwarshuis from Australia. Jake Libby captains the side with Adam Hose providing explosive middle-order firepower.
Callum Parkinson leads the spin department while Tom Taylor and Ben Allison spearhead the pace bowling unit.
Squad: Ben Allison, Ethan Brookes, Yadvinder Singh, Toby Cox, Henry Cullen (WK), Harry Darley, Brett D’Oliveira, Jacob Duffy, Ben Dwarshuis, Rehaan Edavalath, Adam Finch, Bernie Foreman, Ben Gibbon, Henry Hawes, Tom Hinley, Jack Home, Adam Hose, Rob Jones, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Dan Lategan, Jake Libby, Isaac Mohammed, Henry Nicholls, Callum Parkinson, Ed Pollock, Gareth Roderick (WK), Fateh Singh, Tom Taylor, Matthew Waite
South Group Teams
Here are all the teams and their squads from the South Group.
Essex
Essex have assembled a squad featuring South African veteran Dean Elgar, Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir, and Simon Harmer as key overseas players.
Shardul Thakur adds Indian pace firepower while Sam Cook and Jamie Porter lead the homegrown bowling attack. Curtis Campher provides Irish all-round quality in the middle order.
Squad: Khaleel Ahmed, Charlie Allison, Mohammad Amir, Luc Benkenstein, Charlie Bennett, Doug Bracewell, Nick Browne, Curtis Campher, Sam Cook, Jordan Cox (WK), Matt Critchley, Robin Das, Dean Elgar, Simon Fernandes (WK), Daniel Gladwell, Simon Harmer, Mackenzie Jones, Michael Pepper (WK), Jamie Porter, Kasun Rajitha, Jamal Richards, Adam Rossington (WK), Shane Snater, Noah Thain, Shardul Thakur, Paul Walter, Tom Westley
Hampshire Hawks
Hampshire have signed South Africa’s Dewald Brevis and India’s Tilak Varma alongside Washington Sundar to form one of the most exciting overseas contingents in the Blast.
Liam Dawson leads the spin department while Kyle Abbott and Chris Wood spearhead the pace attack. Tom Prest and James Vince anchor the batting through the middle overs.
Squad: Kyle Abbott, Toby Albert (WK), Sonny Baker, Keith Barker, Dewald Brevis, Ben Brown (WK), Hilton Cartwright, Scott Currie, Liam Dawson, Joseph Eckland (WK), Jack Edwards, Bjorn Fortuin, James Fuller, Nick Gubbins, Brett Hampton, Benny Howell, Eddie Jack, Dom Kelly, Chris Lynn, Brandon McMullen, Ben Mayes, Reicha Middleton, Andrew Neal, Felix Organ, Ali Orr, Tom Prest, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (WK), Mark Stoneman, Tilak Varma, John Turner, James Vince, Washington Sundar, Joe Weatherley, Brad Wheal, Chris Wood
Kent Spitfires
2021 champions Kent have bolstered their squad with Zak Crawley, Matt Parkinson, and Fred Klaassen alongside young talent Corey Flintoff (son of Andrew).
Jaydn Denly provides experienced batting depth while Wes Agar and George Garrett lead the pace department. Joey Evison adds seam-bowling all-round balance.
Squad: Wes Agar, Jake Ball, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Chris Benjamin (WK), Mikey Cohen, Ben Compton, Zak Crawley, Olly Curtiss, Ben Dawkins (WK), Jaydn Denly, Joe Denly, Keith Dudgeon, Joey Evison, Harry Finch, Corey Flintoff, George Garrett, Nathan Gilchrist, Kashif Ali, Fred Klaassen, Jack Leaning, Tawanda Muyeye, Alfie Ogborne, Marcus O’Riordan (WK), Matt Parkinson, Matt Quinn, Jamal Richards, Mo Rizvi, Tom Rogers, Ekansh Singh, Jas Singh, Grant Stewart
Middlesex
Middlesex have secured New Zealand captain Kane Williamson as their marquee overseas signing alongside Olly Stone and Pakistan’s Zafar Gohar.
Josh de Caires and Stephen Eskinazi anchor the batting while Ryan Higgins and Luke Hollman provide all-round balance. Josh Little adds Irish left-arm pace to the bowling lineup.
Squad: Henry Brookes, Noah Cornwell, Joe Cracknell (WK), Blake Cullen, Josh de Caires, Leus du Plooy, Stephen Eskinazi, Jamie Feldman, Nathan Fernandes, Ben Geddes, Nathan Gilchrist, Zafar Gohar, Tom Helm, Ryan Higgins, Max Holden, Luke Hollman, Ishaan Kaushal, Josh Little, Seb Morgan, Dane Paterson, Sam Robson, Toby Roland-Jones, Aaryan Sawant, Naavya Sharma, Olly Stone, Kane Williamson
Surrey
The most powerful squad in the competition features Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Adam Zampa, Rahul Chahar, and Mitch Santner.
Rory Burns and Dom Sibley provide top-order solidity while Dan Lawrence adds explosive middle-order power. Tom Curran and Dan Worrall lead the death-overs bowling alongside Reece Topley’s left-arm pace.
Squad: Ralphie Albert, Gus Atkinson, Nathan Barnwell, Josh Blake (WK), Rory Burns (WK), Rahul Chahar, Jordan Clark, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Matt Dunn, Tommy Falham, Laurie Evans, Matt Fisher, Ben Foakes (WK), Alex French, Nikhil Gorantla, Luke Griffiths, Ollie Hunt, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Ari Karvelas, Tom Lawes, Dan Lawrence, Yousef Majid, Jamie Overton, Oliver Pascall (WK), Ryan Patel, Kurtis Patterson, Ollie Pope (WK), Kemar Roach, Jason Roy, Sai Kishore, Mitch Santner, Dom Sibley, Jamie Smith (WK), Nathan Smith, Cameron Steel, Seb Stuart-Reckling, Ollie Sykes, James Taylor, Adam Thomas, Reece Topley, Dan Worrall, Adam Zampa
Sussex Sharks
Sussex have recruited Jofra Archer as their headline signing alongside Tymal Mills and Jaydev Unadkat providing left-arm pace options.
Danny Lamb and Archie Lenham add all-round balance while Tom Alsop and Tom Clark anchor the batting. Jayden Seales from West Indies adds Caribbean pace firepower to a varied bowling attack.
Squad: Tom Alsop, Jofra Archer, Jack Carson, Tom Clark, James Coles, Henry Crocombe, Brad Currie, Bertie Foreman, Tom Haines, James Hayes, Troy Henry, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Daniel Hughes, Sean Hunt, Danial Ibrahim, Ari Karvelas, Danny Lamb, Archie Lenham, Zach Lion-Cachet, Nathan McAndrew, Tymal Mills, Ollie Moore, Nantes Oosthuizen, Ollie Robinson, Henry Rogers, Gurinder Sandhu, Jayden Seales, John Simpson (WK), Charlie Tear, George Thomas, Jaydev Unadkat, Harrison Ward
T20 Blast Winners List (2003 to 2026)
Twenty-one previous editions have crowned 14 different champions. Leicestershire Foxes, Somerset and Hampshire Hawks lead the all-time title count with 3 each.
| Season | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Surrey Lions | Warwickshire Bears |
| 2004 | Leicestershire Foxes | Surrey Lions |
| 2005 | Somerset Sabres | Lancashire Lightning |
| 2006 | Leicestershire Foxes | Notts Outlaws |
| 2007 | Kent Spitfires | Gloucestershire |
| 2008 | Middlesex Crusaders | Kent Spitfires |
| 2009 | Sussex Sharks | Somerset Sabres |
| 2010 | Hampshire Royals | Somerset |
| 2011 | Leicestershire Foxes | Somerset |
| 2012 | Hampshire Royals | Yorkshire |
| 2013 | Northants Steelbacks | Surrey |
| 2014 | Birmingham Bears | Lancashire Lightning |
| 2015 | Lancashire Lightning | Northants Steelbacks |
| 2016 | Northants Steelbacks | Durham Jets |
| 2017 | Notts Outlaws | Birmingham Bears |
| 2018 | Worcestershire Rapids | Sussex Sharks |
| 2019 | Essex Eagles | Worcestershire Rapids |
| 2020 | Notts Outlaws | Surrey |
| 2021 | Kent Spitfires | Somerset |
| 2022 | Hampshire Hawks | Lancashire Lightning |
| 2023 | Somerset | Essex |
| 2024 | Gloucestershire | Somerset |
| 2025 | Somerset | Lancashire Lightning |
Also Check:
Conclusion: Eighteen Counties, Three Groups, and One Trophy Up for Grabs
The 2026 Vitality Blast promises the most competitive edition yet with Yorkshire’s superstar-laden batting order, Lancashire’s Buttler-Livingstone-Salt trio, and Surrey’s all-round depth all vying for knockout places.
Somerset defend their title with a proven squad while Gloucestershire look to back up their 2024 triumph. The new three-group format creates tighter races and more meaningful regional rivalries across 116 matches from May 22 to July 18.
With Kane Williamson, Cameron Green, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, and Yuzvendra Chahal among the overseas headline acts, the 24th edition delivers star power at every venue.
