Essex begin their quest to reclaim their First Division place in the County Championship when they make the long haul to Yorkshire on April 21 before they commence their home fixtures in the competition the following week against Somerset at Chelmsford.
Before those two matches, there is the usual clutch of warm-up friendlies including the traditional short trip to Fenner's for the first-class game against Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence.
The fixture list certainly has an unbalanced appearance with Essex only having one Championship and a single one-day league home match during May.
The innovative and highly-acclaimed Twenty20 Cup qualifying rounds and quarter-final tie will be played in July with Essex staging all three of their home matches under the Chelmsford floodlights.
Both Southend and Colchester have been allocated a Championship and National League fixture, although Castle Park will not be staging a floodlight game next year.
Northamptonshire open the Southchurch Park festival on Sunday, July 25 and three days later Nottinghamshire provide the opposition in a Championship fixture.
More on Essex County Cricket Club
Published Tuesday November 25, 2003
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