Carnival cricket - you should have tried it years ago

Bob Woolmer, former England and Kent all-rounder and one of the most successful coaches of Warwickshire, spoke to reporter Andy Jalil about his experience of carnival cricket throughout the world and his support for the NatWest Series.

He said: "It's nice to see that NatWest are doing something good with the money that I invest with them. I think it is wonderful that they have taken on the mantle for this. I think English cricket should have done this a lot earlier so it's nice to see NatWest and ECB are making it happen. The trend for this form of cricket is many years old in some places, England have now started it and I'm sure it will grow with the spectators as they get used to it.

The big thing about this for the crowd is to make an evening out of this. But what you need is good weather which England hasn't had. I don't think you need to start too early in the season, I think floodlit cricket should start in the middle of July. Earlier in the season you get quite often the cold, winterish type days like we saw this season so it's difficult to come and watch.

All the fun stuff that you get with this cricket has worked in other countries in creating the public's interest so I can't see why it shouldn't work here, I think it will."