Friends Life t20

The Competition:

Twenty20 cricket is the shortest and most high-octane form of the game. If it’s 6-hitting you’re after, this is for you!

In 2013, all 18 counties compete in the Friends Life t20 competition – divided into three geographically defined groups of six. Having played each side both home and away the top two teams from each group qualify for the quarter finals along with the two best-performing third placed teams, with the winners of those games going into a showcase “Finals Day” – both semis and the final in one day!

With only 20 overs (and just over an hour) to rack up the highest score you can, expect to see batsmen sweeping, slogging and smashing anything that comes their way – and plenty of wickets tumbling as a result!

In this tournament, all teams are allowed an extra overseas player to compliment the one they’re allowed in the other competitions, so this is where the big names come to show their skills!

Hampshire’s Record:

The Royals have become the team to beat in this competition in recent years, reaching three successive Finals Days in 2010, 2011 and 2012, winning two of them.

In 2010, they created history by becoming the first British side to win the competition on home turf. But that was followed by Semi-Final heartbreak in 2011.

Nevertheless, in 2012 they bounced-back brilliantly, beating Yorkshire Carnegie in a final-over thriller at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff. In 2013, the Royals will be hoping to defend their crown.