THE Royal London One-Day Cup will be making its debut at the Colchester Cricket Festival next year.

Essex County Cricket Club will face Middlesex in their final Group B game of the competition at Castle Park on Wednesday, August 5.

And the one-day match will be followed by the four-day County Championship Division Two match against Surrey, between Friday, August 7 and Monday, August 10.

The two matches are among Essex fixtures announced on Friday.

Essex will warm-up with matches against Middlesex, Surrey and Cardiff MCCU before the start their season at home to derby rivals Kent in their opening Championship fixture, starting on Sunday, May 3.

Hampshire provide the first T20 Blast opponents with the Eagles heading to the Proteas Bowl on Friday, May 15, before Surrey visit the County Ground the following day. Other highlights of the season include a tourist match against Australia for a four-day game that starts on Wednesday, July 1.

It will be the Aussies’ final match before the opening Ashes Test.