Familiar foes and fresh challenges await Bears in Vitality Blast

The stage is set for another compelling summer of T20 cricket as the Warwickshire Bears begin preparation for their Vitality Blast opponents for both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Across both squads, the 2026 campaign promises a fascinating blend of well-known rivals and first-time match-ups, ensuring no shortage of intrigue as the Bears look to make deep in-roads in the competition.

With a restructure taking place within the competition this year, the Group Stage will look slightly different with Bears Men taking their place among the Central Group.

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Men’s Vitality Blast: a well-travelled path

The Bears Men will contest a group packed with familiar faces, renewing rivalries that have defined recent Blast campaigns.

Regular encounters with Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Notts Outlaws and Worcestershire Rapids remain, ensuring a group rich in history, with familiar challenges to face and bragging rights up for grabs.

These are opponents the Bears know well, sides they have traded blows with over multiple seasons, where marginal gains and momentum often have a big say in qualification.

Alongside those established match-ups, the group also offers a slightly fresher edge. Meetings with Sussex Sharks, Gloucestershire, reigning champions Somerset and Glamorgan add variety to the schedule, presenting opportunities to test the Bears against teams less frequently encountered in recent campaigns.

It’s a balanced group that offers excitement and intrigue for Bears’ fans, with the mix of old and new a tantalising prospect for the 2026 Vitality Blast.

Women’s Vitality Blast: variety across the country

For the Bears Women, the group phase delivers one of the most geographically and stylistically diverse line-ups in the competition.

There will be no shortage of familiar opposition, with Somerset, The Blaze, Surrey, Lancashire Thunder and Yorkshire all representing teams the Bears have crossed paths with before in the T20 format.

These fixtures bring an element of familiarity, but also intensity, given the history between all the sides involved.

Encounters with Essex, Durham and Hampshire Hawks will again form the remainder of the Bears’ fixtures, with different playing styles and conditions adding an extra layer of intrigue to the campaign.

For a Bears squad continuing to grow and evolve, these first-time or less-familiar fixtures offer a valuable chance to measure progress against new benchmarks.

A group stage built for momentum

Across both competitions, the Bears face group stages that reward strong starts and sustained performance. Familiar opponents ensure early intensity, while new challenges could prove decisive in shaping qualification hopes.

With variety, rivalry and opportunity in equal measure, the Vitality Blast group phase sets the tone for what promises to be a compelling summer for Warwickshire Bears fans.

Men’s group

Warwickshire Bears
Northamptonshire Steelbacks
Somerset
Glamorgan
Sussex Sharks
Worcestershire Rapids
Notts Outlaws
Gloucestershire

Women’s group

Warwickshire Bears
Essex
Somerset
The Blaze
Durham
Surrey
Lancashire Thunder
Yorkshire
Hampshire Hawks