Four clubs could SHARE the Vitality Blast title next season if extreme weather washes out Edgbaston’s finals day… after the ECB ditch bowl-outs to decide domestic cup winners

• New rules mean finalists will share silverware in the event of washouts
• Rain has effected several recent Vitality Blast finals days at Edgbaston
• Bowl-outs ditched by ECB as a method to determine competition winners

Four clubs could share the Vitality Blast title next season in the event of extreme weather disrupting Edgbaston’s finals day.

Addressing the effects of climate change on the sport, the ECB have altered their playing regulations for 2024 to include reserve days for all four of their men’s and women’s domestic cup finals and ditched bowl-outs as a method to determine competition winners – opting for the finalists to share silverware in the event of washouts.

Furthermore, if minimal or no play was possible in the semi-finals, the ECB are minded to make the strategic decision of declaring however many teams remain in the competition joint winners.

While the June positioning of finals day of the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the women’s Twenty20 equivalent, allows the governing body the chance to slip in a second reserve day should it be necessary, the September 14-15 scheduling reduces such a prospect for the Blast. The penultimate round of the County Championship begins on September 17.

Rain has been an unwelcome guest in several recent finals days. Both this year’s semis were reduced in length due to showers while in 2020, when the October final brought the curtain down on the season, the forecast was so dire that the prospect of a midweek rescheduling was discussed.

Somerset lifted the 2023 trophy after beating Essex in the Vitality Blast final at Edgbaston

Both this year’s semi-finals in the T20 competition were reduced in length due to rain

The 2024 season, which opens on April 5 when champions Surrey take on Lancashire, will also allow the use of hybrid pitches in Championship cricket for the first time.

Previously, they were permitted for limited-overs matches only but the ECB have taken the view that modern four-day pitches deteriorate less than predecessors and have therefore given the green light for a one-year trial intended to alleviate the pressure on over-used squares.

One trial heading into its second year – and being expanded – is that of the Kookaburra ball in the County Championship.

This year each of the 18 counties used It twice, but that will double to four fixtures apiece for 2024.

Last year’s high performance review recommended the introduction of the Kookaburra as a rival to the competition’s more seamer-friendly Dukes product in a bid to help develop spinners and genuinely fast bowlers – elements seen as vital to improving England’s fortunes abroad.

Draws will be worth eight points, returning to the level of 2022 following the reduction to five last summer.

Batting bonus points – awarded during the first 110 overs of a team’s first innings for reaching totals of 250-450 – remain at the same level, to a maximum of five after a proposal put to the cricket advisory group to remove such a cap was rejected.

Meanwhile, the Metro Bank Cup final has been moved to Sunday, September 22 – just 12 months after it was switched to a primetime Saturday slot.

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