ESSEX will begin the new Rothesay County Championship season with a home meeting with Surrey.

The men's side will begin against a Surrey side bidding for a fourth successive title, following the release of the full 2025 county schedule.

The rematch of last summer’s finale will begin on Friday, April 4.

Essex’s opening block of Championship fixtures, following on from the home clash with Surrey, will take in trips to Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, and a return match against the Brown Caps, alongside further home encounters with the Pears and Yorkshire.

 

A further four rounds of red-ball action, that will feature usage of the Kookaburra ball, are set to follow at the end of June and end of July, with Essex due to host Hampshire and Warwickshire either side of travelling to Yorkshire and Sussex.

The Championship season will conclude with three games in September, during which the Eagles will welcome Durham to Chelmsford prior to heading to Warwickshire, before the season concludes from Wednesday September 24 with a home match against Somerset.

The men’s One Day Cup returns in its now-traditional August block, with Essex kicking the competition off with back-to-back away matches, at Nottinghamshire and Hampshire on Tuesday August 5 and Thursday August 7, respectively, before welcoming Worcestershire and Surrey to The Cloud County Ground.

 

The final four group-stage matches will see Glamorgan, who are the competition’s defending champions, and Gloucestershire visit Chelmsford, while Essex will twice head to the East Midlands to face Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

Essex Women will commence the summer with a Metro Bank One Day Cup trip to Durham on Wednesday April 23, before taking on Warwickshire in their home opener at The Cloud County Ground four days later.

The first block of the new One Day Cup women’s competition will be played in April and May, and after the first two fixtures, Essex Women will go on to face Somerset, The Blaze, and Hampshire away, alongside hosting Durham and Lancashire.

The competition returns in July and concludes, following an August break for The Hundred, in September, with the Eagles set to entertain Somerset, Hampshire, and The Blaze at home, as well as visiting Lancashire, Warwickshire, and Surrey.