SOMERSET'S first home match of the 2018 NatWest T20 Blast competition sees them pitted against rivals Gloucestershire, with the fixture to take place at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton on Friday, July 6.

With the competition being split into North and South Groups once again, Somerset have seven home matches running from July 6 to August 12.

Finals Day will be at Edgbaston for the sixth consecutive season, on Saturday, September 15.

Somerset's full fixture list is as follows:

Friday, July 6 - Somerset v Gloucestershire
Sunday, July 8 - Somerset v Kent Spitfires
Friday, July 13 - Gloucestershire v Somerset
Thursday, July 19 - Middlesex v Somerset
Friday, July 20 - Glamorgan v Somerset
Friday, July 27 - Surrey v Somerset
Sunday, July 29 - Somerset v Middlesex
Wednesday, August 1 - Somerset v Hampshire
Friday, August 3 - Somerset v Essex Eagles
Sunday, August 5 - Sussex Sharks v Somerset
Wednesday, August 8 - Hampshire v Somerset
Friday, August 10 - Somerset v Surrey
Sunday, August 12 - Somerset v Glamorgan
Thursday, August 16 - Kent Spitfires v Somerset

The home match with Middlesex on July 29 will form a double-header with Western Storm's Kia Super League match at home to Loughborough Lightning.

That fixture for the reigning Super League champions is part of an expanded programme, with each team now playing each other home and away.

The County Ground will host two further Western Storm matches - their season opener against Yorkshire Diamonds on Sunday, July 22, and their meeting with Lancashire Thunder on Thursday, August 9.