 The English cricket season traditionally starts at the beginning of April and runs through to the second half of September although in recent years counties have played pre season friendly matches at the very end of March.Each summer the county clubs compete in the first class County Championship, which consists of two leagues of nine teams and in which matches are played over four days.The same teams also play one day cricket in the Royal London One-Day Cup, and Twenty20 cricket in the Vitality T20 Blast.