Gloucestershire County Cricket Club will launch their 2020 County Championship campaign at Yorkshire on Sunday 12th April.

It will be the first time that they have played in Division One since the mid-noughties and a week after taking on Yorkshire they host Lancashire in Bristol (19th April) in another four-day game.

The club’s 2020 fixtures were revealed today and this year’s Cheltenham Cricket Festival will get under way earlier than normal – it begins on Monday 29th June – but the format remains the same with two championship matches and two Vitality Blast games.

Hampshire are the visitors for a championship game on 29th June and Gloucestershire also host Sussex (Friday 3rd July) and Kent (Thursday 9th July) at Cheltenham College in the Vitality Blast either side of hosting Yorkshire in the Championship from Sunday 5th July.

The Vitality Blast begins with a Friday night trip to Somerset (29th May) before a home opener against Glamorgan with all matches to be staged in prime slots on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights or at the weekend.

Meanwhile, The Royal London Cup group games will be played in the height of the summer, from 21st July to 9th August.

As part of the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations children from 150 local schools are set to watch Gloucestershire next summer with the Community Day set to be held during the Royal London Cup match against Lancashire on Sunday 26th July.

Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson said: “A return to Division One in our historic 150th year and more action packed one-day cricket is what awaits Gloucestershire Cricket members in the 2020 season.

“Excitement has been building around the club and I expect the atmosphere at Bristol and Cheltenham will be better than ever.”

Gloucestershire entertain Somerset in the County Championship from Friday 1st May, the first time they have hosted their rivals in the four-day format in 13 years which is one of the longest periods of time between first class fixtures against one of the other counties in the club’s history.

Gloucestershire reached the quarter-finals of the Blast last summer despite an injury to star bowler Benny Howell, who took a career-best five for 18 against Glamorgan at Cheltenham this summer, and he will be keen to lead them back to the knockout stages with their final three games at home. Local rivals Somerset will arrive to The Bristol County Ground on Sunday 12th July for the West Country clash in the Vitality Blast.

The Royal London Cup is set to feature the next wave of young talent with James Bracey, a nominee for the PCA Young Player of the Year last summer, again set to line up for Gloucestershire.

The Bristol County Ground will also play host to the innovative new The Hundred women’s competition with the best players from around the world and England and Wales set to take part. Welsh Fire will host Northern Superchargers (30th July) and Manchester Originals (8th August) at Bristol with the likes of Australia captain Meg Lanning set to take centre stage.