Overview
Each First-Class County has initially been placed into one of three seeded groups of six and has been scheduled to play five home matches and five away matches during the Group Stage.
The opening nine rounds of Group Stage matches are to be played on consecutive weeks and all are due to begin on a Thursday with a scheduled Sunday finish.
The Group Stage will conclude in July with the Round 10 and 11 matches to begin on a Sunday. All the First-Class Counties will play in the final round of Group Stage fixtures
The top two counties in each group at the end of the Group Stage will progress to Division One, with the other counties moving into Divisions Two and Three, where they will each play a further four matches.
The winner of Division One will be crowned the 2021 County Championship winners.
The opening round of Divisional Stage matches will begin on the Bank Holiday Monday 30 August.
The five-day Bob Willis Trophy final will be played between the top two counties in Division One and is scheduled to start on Tuesday 27 September.
Fixtures
Thu 8 – Sun 11 April
Northamptonshire v Kent (The County Ground)
Essex v Worcestershire (The Cloudfm County Ground)
Sussex v Lancashire (The 1st Central County Ground)
Middlesex v Somerset (Lord’s)
Leicestershire v Hampshire (Grace Road)
Gloucestershire v Surrey (Bristol County Ground)
Nottinghamshire v Durham (Trent Bridge)
Yorkshire v Glamorgan (Emerald Headingley)
Warwickshire v Derbyshire (Edgbaston)
Thu 15 – Sun 18 April
Hampshire v Middlesex (Ageas Bowl)
Lancashire v Northamptonshire (Emirates Old Trafford)
Kent v Yorkshire (Canterbury)
Glamorgan v Sussex (Sophia Gardens)
Somerset v Gloucestershire (The Cooper Associates County Ground)
Derbyshire v Worcestershire (The Incora County Ground)
Essex v Durham (The Cloudfm County Ground)
Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire (Trent Bridge)
Surrey v Leicestershire (Kia Oval)
Thu 22 – Sun 25 April
Sussex v Yorkshire (The 1st Central County Ground)
Durham v Derbyshire (Emirates Riverside)
Kent v Lancashire (Canterbury)
Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire (New Road)
Hampshire v Gloucestershire (Ageas Bowl)
Warwickshire v Essex (Edgbaston)
Middlesex v Surrey (Lord’s)
Northamptonshire v Glamorgan (The County Ground)
Leicestershire v Somerset (Grace Road)
Thu 29 April – Sun 2 May
Lancashire v Sussex (Emirates Old Trafford)
Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire (The Incora County Ground)
Worcestershire v Essex (New Road)
Durham v Warwickshire (Emirates Riverside)
Gloucestershire v Leicestershire (Bristol County Ground)
Somerset v Middlesex (The Cooper Associates County Ground)
Glamorgan v Kent (Sophia Gardens)
Yorkshire v Northamptonshire (Emerald Headingley)
Surrey v Hampshire (Kia Oval)
Thu 6 – Sun 9 May
Yorkshire v Kent (Emerald Headingley)
Leicestershire v Surrey (Grace Road)
Warwickshire v Worcestershire (Edgbaston)
Middlesex v Gloucestershire (Lord’s)
Lancashire v Glamorgan (Emirates Old Trafford)
Northamptonshire v Sussex (The County Ground)
Hampshire v Somerset (Ageas Bowl)
Nottinghamshire v Essex (Trent Bridge)
Thu 13 – Sun 16 May
Essex v Derbyshire (The Cloudfm County Ground)
Sussex v Kent (The 1st Central County Ground)
Glamorgan v Yorkshire (Sophia Gardens)
Middlesex v Hampshire (Lord’s)
Durham v Worcestershire (Emirates Riverside)
Somerset v Surrey (The Cooper Associates County Ground)
Thu 20 – Sun 23 May
Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire (Trent Bridge)
Essex v Warwickshire (The Cloudfm County Ground)
Derbyshire v Durham (The Incora County Ground)
Northamptonshire v Lancashire (The County Ground)
Kent v Glamorgan (Canterbury)
Hampshire v Leicestershire (Ageas Bowl)
Gloucestershire v Somerset (Bristol County Ground)
Surrey v Middlesex (Kia Oval)
Thu 27 – Sun 30 May
Durham v Essex (Emirates Riverside)
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire (Edgbaston)
Worcestershire v Derbyshire (New Road)
Lancashire v Yorkshire (Emirates Old Trafford)
Sussex v Northamptonshire (The 1st Central County Ground)
Surrey v Gloucestershire (Guildford)
Leicestershire v Middlesex (Grace Road)
Thu 3 – Sun 6 June
Yorkshire v Sussex (Emerald Headingley)
Worcestershire v Durham (New Road)
Essex v Nottinghamshire (The Cloudfm County Ground)
Derbyshire v Warwickshire (The Incora County Ground)
Kent v Northamptonshire (Canterbury)
Glamorgan v Lancashire (Venue TBC)
Somerset v Hampshire (The Cooper Associates County Ground)
Leicestershire v Gloucestershire (Grace Road)
Sun 4 – Wed 7 July
Lancashire v Kent (Emirates Old Trafford)
Northamptonshire v Yorkshire (The County Ground)
Gloucestershire v Middlesex (Cheltenham)
Sussex v Glamorgan (The 1st Central County Ground)
Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire (Trent Bridge)
Warwickshire v Durham (Edgbaston)
Hampshire v Surrey (Ageas Bowl)
Somerset v Leicestershire (The Cooper Associates County Ground)
Sun 11 – Wed 14 July
Derbyshire v Essex (Chesterfield)
Durham v Nottinghamshire (Emirates Riverside)
Worcestershire v Warwickshire (New Road)
Yorkshire v Lancashire (Scarborough)
Gloucestershire v Hampshire (Cheltenham)
Middlesex v Leicestershire (Merchant Taylors’ School)
Surrey v Somerset (Kia Oval)
Glamorgan v Northamptonshire (Sophia Gardens)
Kent v Sussex (Beckenham)
Division Stage
Round 1: Mon 30 August – Thu 2 September
Round 2: Sun 5 – Wed 8 September
Round 3: Sun 12 – Wed 15 September
Round 4: Tue 21 – Fri 24 September
Bob Willis Trophy Final
Tues 27 September- Fri 1 October