New innovations for the Twenty20 Cup

The fixture list for the 2004 Twenty20 Cup was announced by the ECB today. After the success of this year's inaugural competition, the format has been expanded to include quarter-finals. There is also a designated "Derby Day" - when several local derby matches will be played - and the list also includes the first Twenty20 match at Lord's (Middlesex v Surrey on July 15), and the first Twenty20 international, between the England and New Zealand women's teams (at Hove on August 5).

The main county competition will again start with three regional preliminary groups of six. The first matches are on Friday, July 2. Next year the top two counties in each of the three groups will progress to the quarter-finals, along with the two best-performed third-place teams. The semi-finals and finals will be played at Edgbaston on Saturday, August 7.

The new "Derby Day", on the evening of Friday, July 9, will feature five of English cricket's major derby fixtures: Gloucestershire v Somerset, Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire, Surrey v Kent, Sussex v Hampshire, and Warwickshire v Worcestershire.

The ECB undertook extensive research during the Twenty20 Cup in 2003. This suggested that the aim of reaching a new and younger audience was realised: 62% of the audience was under 34, and 23% were female, compared to 16% and 15% respectively at a typical Frizzell County Championship match. The research also showed that 32% of females were watching a cricket match for the first time. In addition, 36% of men, 58% of women, and 47% of under-25s stated that their image of cricket had changed in a positive way as a result of their Twenty20 Cup experiences.