DURHAM’S Championship season next year starts with a trip to Sussex on April 12 – the game coming after the traditional University friendly opener against Durham.

They end the County Championship programme at Notts on September 22, with the final home game against Worcestershire on September 14.

The T20 programme starts with a game at Yorkshire on May 29, then there’s a trip to Birmingham two days later. The game with Leicester on June 3 is the only one at Emirates Riverside in their first five T20 outings.

Durham’s Royal London Cup programme begins on July 19 at Sussex, before a home game with Gloucestershire two days later.

Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, England's World Cup-winning opening partners, are set to go head to head when The Hundred gets under way at The Oval on July 17.

The inaugural edition of its 100-ball tournament appears alongside the existing three formats.

The new competition, partially broadcast on free-to-air by the BBC, is a central part of the governing body's bid to build the sport's fanbase but the city-based franchise model has attracted scepticism from sections of the existing support. The Northern Superchargers are based in Leeds, with no game north of the city.

The opening fixture pits the Oval Invincibles against Welsh Fire, with Bairstow and Roy due to be front and centre.

The third and final one-day international against Australia takes place in Bristol 24 hours earlier and the top-order pair are among a host of big names - also including the Curran brothers, Tom Banton, Liam Plunkett and the Fire's overseas pair Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc - who could be involved in a unique double-header.