NPCL and Palace Shield clubs' April start to the 2026 campaign

The Fylde coast's cricket fans received an early festive present with the publication of the 2026 cricket fixtures in the run-up to Christmas.

- by Sports Reporter

St Annes and Blackpool will meet in division one of the NPCL in 2026

(Photo: DANIEL MARTINO)

Day one of the new season comes on Saturday, April 18 as the Northern Premier Cricket League clubs begin their 40 Over Cup campaigns.

That sees Lytham join the Fylde coast's five other NPCL representatives in action after their move across from the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition.

They are in division two, alongside Thornton Cleveleys, Great Eccleston and Fleetwood, who were replaced by St Annes with their championship-winning season seeing them join Blackpool in division one.

Another difference this year is that teams will only play two rounds of cup matches before starting the league season, as opposed to the five games in 2025.

League matches begin over the Bank Holiday weekend at the start of May, though only the NPCL division two teams play on the Monday.

May's second Bank Holiday three weeks later brings league games on Saturday and round three of the cup 48 hours later.

Round four is on June 14, with the final group games on consecutive Saturdays in July.

There is also change afoot in the Palace Shield, where the former Premier Division - in which Fylde play - has been rebranded as the Amateur Championship.

That also starts on April 18 and, like division two of the NPCL, will be a 22-match season with the fixture dates as follows:

April 18: Blackpool v Leyland, Garstang 2 v Fylde, Longridge v St Annes, Lytham v Kendal, Netherfield v Great Eccleston, Thornton Cleveleys v Settle, Whalley v Fleetwood.