Gloucestershire and Cheshire could be set for a rematch of last season's Tetley's County Championship final in the semi-finals of the 2002/03 competition.

Gloucestershire, who won the County Championship for a record 17th time when they beat Cheshire 26-23 in a thrilling final at Twickenham in June, have been made the top two seeds for next season's championship and they have been kept apart until the last four.

Mike Rafter's side launch their title defence with a home match against Surrey, who were promoted from the Tetley's County Shield last season, and the winners will then have home advantage against either Middlesex or Devon in the quarter-finals. The winners of that tie will then travel to play the winners of the North One quarter-final group which includes Cheshire, Durham, Cumbria and Hertfordshire.

Cheshire entertain Durham, the lowest of the 16 seeded counties, in the first round which has been regionalised on a North/South basis and the winners will be at home to either Cumbria or Hertfordshire in the quarter-finals.

Warwickshire and Berkshire, winners and runners-up respectively in the Tetley's County Shield last season, have also been promoted to the Championship. Warwickshire have been drawn away to Yorkshire in the first round and Berkshire must travel to Cornwall. The other first round ties are Lancashire v Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire and Sussex v Kent.

The format has been amended slightly by the County Championship Task Group to ensure that travel for first round losers, who go into a play-off system for their subsequent games to determine seeding and home/away advantage for the following season, is minimised and that counties do not play each other twice in a season.

Tetley's County Championship first round (seeds in brackets): North: Cheshire (2) v Durham (16), Yorkshire (3) v Warwickshire (13), Lancashire (6) v Notts, Lincs and Derbys (12), Cumbria (8) v Hertfordshire (10). South: Gloucestershire (1) v Surrey (15), Cornwall (4) v Berkshire (14), Sussex (5) v Kent (11), Middlesex (7) v Devon (9).

The Tetley's County Shield has also been regionalised to produce four qualifying pools: Pool 1: Northumberland and Staffordshire. Pool 2: North Midlands, East Midlands and Leicestershire. Pool 3: Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Dorset & Wiltshire. Pool 4: Somerset, Eastern Counties, Hampshire.