SACA Announces Fixture Schedule for 2026 Season

SACA (The South Asian Cricket Academy) is today delighted to announce its full fixture list for the 2026 season, which will see the Academy play competitive fixtures against no less than 16 of the 18 Professional County Clubs this year.

SACA is a non-profit organisation set up  to tackle the inequalities highlighted by research regarding the lack of British South Asian (BSA) representation in professional cricket across the UK. It operates through hosting several high-performance training programmes across England in the winter months, delivered by a diverse and highly skilled coaching staff. The very best players from across the programme are then selected to represent SACA and showcase their skills in fixtures against county 2nd & 1st XIs in a bid to be awarded a professional contract.

Since conception in 2022 SACA has successfully helped no less than 18 male “graduates” win professional contracts at first class counites.

2025 – A breakthrough year for SACA

Following a breakthrough year in 2025, which saw SACA sides in action on 57 days of the season, and the total number of players to graduate from the Academy into the professional game reach 18, 2026 is again set to be a busy summer, with no fewer than 54 days of competitive action confirmed in the calendar across all three formats of the game.

The season gets underway in earnest in early April, when SACA compete in the first of 13 red-ball multi-day matches against First-Class County opposition, with Gloucestershire up first to kick off the season. This opening clash is followed by further red-ball fixtures against Surrey, Kent, Worcestershire and Somerset in April, Middlesex, Essex and Hampshire in May, Warwickshire and Durham in June, Worcestershire in August, and finally Northamptonshire and Derbyshire in September.

Durham added to fixtures this year

SACA’s clash with Durham is their first encounter against the county, and completes the set, as the Academy will have now played competitively against all 18 of the First-Class Counties.

In May, attention turns to the T20 format of the game, when SACA take on Glamorgan in the first of eight T20 matches in their 2026 schedule, played across five match dates, with the Academy taking on Glamorgan, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire that month, followed by Lancashire in June.

SACA will compete in one early 50-over encounter in April, with Kent in opposition, with the lion’s share of one-day white-ball clashes taking place in the height of the summer over July and August, with fixtures against Yorkshire, Surrey, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, and both Gloucestershire and Glamorgan twice.

Speaking of another busy summer ahead for the Academy, SACA Founder and Managing Director, Dr Tom Brown, commented:

“Each and every fixture, across each of the three formats, provides our players with an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of their professional peers, and whilst the terrific shop window and potential springboard that this creates for our talented group of players, we will also be heading into this year’s fixtures aiming to stamp our authority in matches and build on some outstanding positive performances and results over the last couple of years.

“Our thanks go to all those in the professional game who have committed to fixtures against SACA in 2026 and we look forward to another competitive year on the field, and hopefully a few upsets along the way.”

To see the full SACA fixture list click here: