Clubs and village sides will launch their bid to realise the dream of playing in a final at New Road via the first round of the Worcestershire Cricket Board Limited Canterbury County Cup and Canterbury County Plate competitions.
The draw has been made for the opening round on Sunday June 12 when 16 teams will compete in the County Cup and 8 in the County Plate respectively.
County Cup holders Worcester Norton will start their defence of the trophy with a home match against Pershore.
The competition is the brainchild of Worcestershire Cricket Board Ltd Chairman Graham Blomfield who had a vision of every cricket club in Worcestershire being provided with the opportunity to play at New Road.
This will be the third year of the competition – and the second that they have both been sponsored by Canterbury.
WCBL Cricket Development Director Tom Hill summed up perfectly the standing of the competition when he said: "It is basically the FA Cup of Worcestershire Cricket, a knock out competition played on Sundays throughout the season.
"The competition can be played in coloured clothing which all adds to the excitement on and in the lead up to match days. It’s something different with a great prize at the end.
"All of our affiliated clubs are eligible to enter, it's free of charge and it gives every cricketer in Worcestershire the chance to play in a final at New Road in either the County Cup or County Plate.
"The County Cup is for Birmingham League and Worcestershire County League Division One teams and above, and the County Plate is for smaller village teams. So any club and any player, regardless of what standard of cricket you play, has the opportunity to play at New Road.
"We probably had 200 people watch last year's final. It is a special day and brings club cricket to the County Ground which is what this is all about."
Worcester Norton defeated Himley in the 2015 County Cup final although sadly the County Plate was rained off.
This year's two finals will take place at New Road on Sunday September 11.
The full first round draw is:
CANTERBURY COUNTY CUP
Kidderminster v Halesowen
Worcester Norton v Pershore
Hagley v Beacon
Old Hill v Barnards Green
Bewdley v Droitwich
Bromsgrove v Ombersley
Astwood Bank v Himley
Belbroughton v Old Elizabethans
CANTERBURY COUNTY PLATE
Overbury v Worcester Police
Redditch v Bromyard
Ross on Wye v Feckenham
Bartestree and Lugwardine v Bretforton
Worcestershire Cricket Board Ltd are also to act as a pilot for testing out new rules aimed at ensuring the Spirit Of Cricket is upheld at all levels of the game via the County Cup and County Plate competitions.
The ECB's Paul Bedford said: "The ECB and MCC are committed to ensuring that the Spirit Of Cricket is upheld at all levels of the game but have recently become concerned about the deterioration in player behaviour during matches.
"We are extremely pleased that the Worcestershire Cricket Board Ltd have agreed to be part of a pilot which will introduce a number of new rules that are designed to improve the conduct of players during games.”
"The findings of the pilot will then be used to help inform the design of any new laws or playing regulations for the 2017 season."
Tom Hill said: "It’s great for us as a county to be selected as an ECB and MCC pilot in an area which is crucial to the values of our game.
"It will probably involve things like penalty runs for things like dissent against umpires or opposition players, which if successful are likely to be rolled out nationally next year.”
