Warwickshire will start their bid to reclaim their County Championship crown next summer on the road.
The first-class fixture list has given the Bears two away games to begin the season, starting against the Cambridge students on April 15 before moving on to start their Championship campaign against Sussex at Hove four days later.
Mark Greatbatch's men then begin their home Championship season against Yorkshire in late April at Edgbaston. But they are soon back on their travels, with a trip to Trent Bridge the following week to play reigning champions Nottinghamshire.
The Bears also go to Lord's in May and two of cricket's new homes of international cricket, The Rose Bowl and The Riverside, in late August. But the fixture list has also handed them trips to three of cricket's more old-fashioned homes, Scarborough, Tunbridge Wells and Blackpool.
Neighbours Worcestershire start their season eight days later than the Bears on April 23 but they are also due to finish the season at Northampton on September 23 - a week later.
The highlights of Worcester's fixture list - Elton John's appearance for a rock concert at New Road on June 11 apart - are probably their three local derby battles against the Bears.
The first is at Edgbaston in June, in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. But they then meet twice in five days in the Twenty20 Cup the following month.
And, for the more travelled cricket supporter, the Championship has thrown up some appealing jaunts.
Highlights look to be a rare trip to picturesque Chesterfield to play Derbyshire in late July, and the trip to Colwyn Bay to play Glamorgan a week later.
There is also a nine-day trip to the South West in early June when they go to Gloucester on June 2, before continuing their journey to Taunton to start a four-day game with Somerset on the 7th.
There is also the chance to welcome back Tom Moody - whose mid- summer exit sowed the seeds for Pears' disastrous season - when he brings his touring Sri Lanka team to play England 'A' at New Road in early May.
The whole domestic season, which ends on September 24, is seven days shorter than in 2005, which was the longest ever, and begins six days later than this year.
The format of the County Championship remains unchanged but it is now woven around three distinctly partitioned one- day competitions.
The one-day action in the first part of the season centres around the C&G Trophy which has changed format.
It is to be played in two 'North' and 'South' divisions of ten teams, including Scotland and Ireland, who join the 18 first-class counties.
Warwickshire and Worcestershire are both in the 'North' group along with Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham and Scotland. And, although all group matches are played before the end of June, the final is retained in a more traditional slot at Lord's on August 29.
After the C&G group matches end, the counties then focus their one-day attention on the Twenty20 Cup, which monopolises the fixture schedules for a fortnight in late June and early July.
The four quarter-finals take place in late July, with finals day reverting from last summer's day-out at The Oval to its original home Trent Bridge on August 12.
One-day cricket for the season's final third then switches to the National League, now a 40- over competition.
The two-division structure remains, but with only two automatic promotion and relegation places. The third promotion issue will be resolved by a season-closing play-off on September 24, between the seventh-placed team in Division One and thirdplaced side in Division Two.
