Circket's new Twenty20 format seems like it's quite a success initially, with large attendances at most of the matches and some pretty exciting competition. I've just been watching Channel 4's coverage of Gloucestershire vs Worcestershire, and the speed of the game was enough to catch the attention of my cricket-hating flatmate for a while, which shows something. OK, some of that may have been because she wanted to point out that Jack Russell's moustache and vaguely mullet-esque hairstyle makes him look like a diminutive 70s porn star, but the ECB need all the marketing help they can get.

What's important is that the players seem to enjoy the new format as well, which is the key to making a success of it - their enthusiasm shows in the game, and if they're playing to the limit, it excites the crowds as well. And with a quick check of the schedule on the ECB site, I see that Essex are playing Middlesex at Chelmsford on the 24th, and I'm not at work that day so I think I'll go along and see it in the flesh.