Northants will play first-class cricket for the Bob Willis Trophy when season starts next month

A full fixture list is yet to be announced, but the England & Wales Cricket Board have confirmed all 18 first-class counties will first take part in a four-day competition, ahead of the Blast starting on August 27.

The red ball competition is to be called the Bob Willis Trophy in honour of the former England captain who died last December, aged 70.

After a meeting of all the county chairman earlier this week, it was agreed to push ahead with both first-class and limited-overs cricket when the season starts from August 1, but it was reported that some wanted to play the white-ball format only.

It is understood Northants as a club were in favour of playing 50-over cricket rather than four-day games, but they have agreed to the mixture of red ball and white ball competitions.

The season, delayed from April due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will start with a four-day tournament followed by an abridged Blast.

The fixtures will be announced later this month, but it is expected both tournaments will be played in regional groups, before moving on to finals.

Neil Snowball, the ECB's managing director of county cricket, said: "The enforced break due to Covid-19 has provided a challenging period for the county game during which time the 18 first-class counties have been united with a common goal to get back to our core function of playing cricket.

"The commitment of the chairs and chief executives of the first-class counties to work together to achieve that ambition has been resolute and we will remain in close discussion as we continue to assess risk factors that need to be mitigated in order to ensure the safety and welfare of their players, coaches and staff.

"We are all delighted that agreement has been reached across the game and we are now in a position to look forward to and prepare for a new men's domestic season starting on August 1."

All matches will initially held behind closed doors, although there is still some hope that some supporters will be allowed into games later in the summer.

The decision to name the four-day competition after Willis will be a popular one.

Only James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Sir Ian Botham have taken more Test wickets for England than Willis, a former quick who finished with a record of 325 scalps at 25.2 in 90 matches between 1971 and 1984.

He captained England for 18 Tests and 28 one-day internationals while his role alongside Botham in the 1981 Ashes, where he took a career-best eight for 43 at the famous Headingley encounter, lives long in the memory.

Willis started his career with Surrey in 1969 before a fruitful 12-year stay at Warwickshire, finishing with a record of 899 wickets at 24.99 in 308 first-class matches.

After his playing days ended in 1984, he enjoyed a long broadcasting career with BBC and then Sky.