The little game that's gone a long way

A little game has come a long, long way since it was unleashed on a sceptical public in the summer of 2003, but as it enters its third year, Twenty20 cricket is now more popular than ever.

It seems strange to recall the wave of intense apathy that greeted the ECB's pioneering project two summers ago. The concept was greeted with disdain at best and outrage at worst, but the doubters have, slowly but surely, been won over - even if, after last Monday's astonishing events, Australians will continue to protest its pointlessness until they are blue in the face.

The third incarnation of the Twenty20 Cup promises to be the biggest and brashest yet, with many counties already reporting sellout crowds for their group stage fixtures, not to mention Finals Day, which will this year take place at the newly revamped Oval, the home of the inaugural winners of the competition, Surrey.

As ever, this mid-season carnival is all about the sideshows as well as the main event, and once again there will be the usual mix of bouncy castles, barbeques and barmy publicity stunts. Essex, for instance, are offering the chance of a drive-in view from two sponsored cars on the boundary's edge, while the Nottinghamshire Outlaws will be holding a "Maid Marian" themed beauty contest, for whom the prize will be two tickets to the match against the current Cup-holders, Leicestershire.

The competition could hardly come at a more opportune moment for the game of cricket. In 2003, it was seen as a desperate gamble to regenerate interest in a sport that was fading from view: this year, however, with Australia in town and England on top, cricket is the talk of the nation - or at least it was, until Tim Henman's thriller at Wimbledon on Tuesday afternoon.

Consequently, the new expanded format can only help to crank up the interest even further. In a bid to boost the importance of local derbies, the counties have this year been split into three regional groups that will play four home-and-away ties, with the top two from each, plus the two best third-placed sides, moving onto the quarter-final stage.

The finals take place on July 30, by which stage the first Ashes Test will have taken place and the summer will be in full swing. As part of a sizeable hors d'oeuvre, this competition promises to whet the nation's appetite for cricket even further.