The 2026 Vitality Blast begins on Friday 22 May, and Somerset Cricket is right at the centre of the opening day. Somerset Women face Hampshire Hawks Women at 2.30pm, before Somerset Men play Hampshire Hawks Men at 6.30pm, with both matches set for live coverage on Sky Sports.

Sky Sports Cricket will stream seven games live across the men’s and women’s competitions this week, giving the tournament an immediate television push as the new campaign gets under way. The Somerset Men’s opener will also be shown on Sky Sports Main Event, while selected Vitality Blast matches will be available live on Sky Sports and through streams on via the Vitality Blast match centres and the England Cricket app.

The broadcast plan gives Somerset an early place in a packed opening stretch. After Friday’s double header, Glamorgan Men v Gloucestershire Men is scheduled for live coverage on Saturday 23 May at 7.00pm, followed by Middlesex Men v Surrey Men on Sunday 24 May at 11.55am. The live coverage then continues on Tuesday 26 May, when Hampshire Hawks Women v Essex Women is due at 2.55pm before Hampshire Hawks Men v Essex Women at 7.00pm, ahead of Leicestershire Foxes Men v Derbyshire Falcons Men on Wednesday 27 May at 7.00pm.

The revised 2026 schedule features plenty of double headers, keeping the men’s and women’s competitions tightly linked from the start. That matters for Somerset because the club’s opening fixtures are part of the wider push to put both sides in front of a national audience on the same day, rather than spreading the attention across separate nights.

Channel 5 will also return to the competition with a weekly highlights programme every Tuesday in 2026, available at channel5.com and on 5’s catchup service from midday throughout the Vitality Blast campaign. For viewers who miss the live action, the ECB Match Centre and the England Cricket app will carry detailed scorecards and video highlights from every match, ensuring Somerset’s opening night and the rest of the tournament remain accessible beyond the live broadcast window.

For Somerset, the value of opening day is plain. It is the first chance to set the tone in a Blast season built around visibility, and the club gets that platform twice over on Friday, with its women’s and men’s teams both in the live schedule as the tournament starts.