Somerset Cricket opens 2026 Blast on 22 May with live TV doubleheader
somerset cricket opens its 2026 Vitality Blast campaign on Friday 22 May with both Somerset Women and Somerset Men in live Sky Sports matches. The opening day puts Somerset in the middle of a revised schedule that also features televised double headers across the men’s and women’s competitions.
Somerset Women and Hampshire Hawks
Somerset Women face Hampshire Hawks Women at 2.30pm on Sky Sports Cricket. That is the first of Somerset’s two opening-day fixtures, and it gives supporters an immediate televised look at the women’s side as the competition gets underway.
Sky Sports Cricket will stream seven games live across the Vitality Blast men’s and women’s competitions this week. Friday’s Somerset Women match is part of that slate, alongside other early fixtures spread across the weekend and into next week.
Somerset Men on Sky Sports Main Event
Somerset Men follow at 6.30pm against Hampshire Hawks Men, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket. The club’s opening Friday therefore moves from the women’s side to the men’s side without leaving the broadcast window, keeping Somerset in view from afternoon to evening.
Selected games can also be watched live on and through the England Cricket app. For viewers who want a broader reset on the competition each week, a highlights programme returns on Channel 5 every Tuesday in 2026 and is available on 5’s catchup service from midday on Tuesdays throughout the campaign.
Week-one broadcast slate
The opening week extends beyond Somerset. Glamorgan Men play Gloucestershire Men on Saturday 23 May at 7.00pm on Sky Sports Cricket, Middlesex Men meet Surrey Men on Sunday 24 May at 11.55am, and Hampshire Hawks Women face Essex Women on Tuesday 26 May at 2.55pm on Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports +.
Later on Tuesday 26 May, Hampshire Hawks Men play Essex Women at 7.00pm on Sky Sports+, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket, before Leicestershire Foxes Men face Derbyshire Falcons Men on Wednesday 27 May at 7.00pm. For Somerset followers, the opening Friday is the clearest entry point into a schedule built around live coverage, double headers and multiple ways to watch selected matches as the 2026 Vitality Blast begins.
