Surrey chief executive Richard Gould warns ECB to not forget about the appeal of T20 cricket

Hat-trick hero | Tom Curran helps Surrey to their first T20 win of the season last night at The Oval against Glamorgan
Getty Images for Surrey CCC
Will Macpherson26 July 2019

After a second Vitality Blast sell-out this week for last night’s win over Glamorgan, Surrey Chief Executive Richard Gould has urged the ECB not to forget county T20 cricket, which has “never been as popular” as it is now, when the Hundred is introduced next year.

Gould says that Surrey are selling 2,000 tickets for their home T20 matches, all seven of which are on course to have 23,000 capacity crowds, despite three being on Tuesdays and just one on Friday. Surrey also welcomed a record 13,000th member this week.

Surrey are selling almost double the number of tickets (it was 1,100 daily before) since England won the World Cup, which has brought what Gould described as “a national bounce”. Durham have had their largest ever T20 crowd, and Lancashire their biggest for a non-Roses match. Old Trafford report a daily boost of more than 300% in tickets sales.

“County cricket has never been as popular as it has been this year,” Gould told Standard Sport. “We will break all kinds of attendance records for county cricket, not just at Surrey or elsewhere.

"Good weather, and a World Cup bounce are combining to push T20 cricket to where it’s not been before.

Imran Tahir of Surrey looks on during the Vitality Blast match against Glamorgan Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

“It’s been a long journey. Go back to 2012, and there were about 250,000 watching T20. This year it will be nudging a million, which would be the same number of people as watching the World Cup.”

Surrey have been long time opponents of the Hundred, the eight-team men’s and women’s competition which is introduced next summer. He says that at Surrey “within the supporter base we see some frustration and confusion with the Hundred”.

“A lot is resting the Hundred in terms of delivering supporters and numbers,” said Gould. “We have seen with T20 that you cannot deliver an overnight success.

“I’m sure there will be an exciting marketing plan put together by the ECB for the Hundred that will bring in a new audience. We must keep investing in the T20 Blast because these numbers have been in growth for seven years in a row. If next year there is a reduction or growth is halted people will make assumptions about unintended consequences from the changes that have been made. That would be really damaging.”

In response, an ECB spokesperson said: "We’re delighted that passion for cricket is running so high after an incredible ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

“From 2020, our Inspiring Generations strategy means that fans and participants of cricket will see over £770million invested in the sport. We recognise the popularity of T20 across England and Wales and we’re supporting this by investing more than ever before in the format.”

In last night’s game, Tom Curran’s brilliant first-over hat-trick helped Surrey to their first win of the campaign. Surrey won by 97 runs having bowled Glamorgan out for 44, and are next in action tonight against Sussex and at home on Tuesday against Kent.

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