Jamie Clifford hoping for big crowd for Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles at The Brit Oval
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Kent are hopeful the controversial
Friends Provident t20 home game at The Brit Oval on Friday
night will attract a large crowd to give them a financial
boost.
Despite falling attendances around the country this summer, Kent
chief executive Jamie Clifford said advance sales had been
encouraging and he hoped even more fans would turn up on the night
to see the Spitfires take on Essex Eagles (5.30pm start).
He said: "We have taken out ads and
been leafleting at London stations with trains to and from Kent.
There have been lots of marketing and promotional activities.
"We are hoping to attract a
‘commuting audience.’ We’re not looking to drag people up from
Ramsgate, we want people who live or work at the other end of the
county to take a detour on their way home.
"I hope we’ll have a big crowd. The
weather forecast looks good. Hopefully now that the World Cup is
drawing to a close and that Wimbledon is over, people can start to
get back to cricket."
Mr Clifford (pictured) added: "We
are expecting a reasonable crowd. Generally speaking across the
country, Twenty20 crowds have been down on last year.
"The trend across Twenty20 as a
whole this summer is that people have been leaving it late before
making a decision on whether to buy tickets, probably based on the
weather forecast.
"The falling attendances is
something that is on people’s minds and it was on the agenda at a
meeting of the county chairmen on Tuesday.
"Twenty20 is an important part of
our agenda and it could be our cash cow but it has to be dealt with
properly and there is a danger that things could go too far in
terms of the number of games.
"We are doing a number of things
differently to try to solve our financial difficulties, this is
just one of them.
"Time will tell if it is successful
but no matter what happens, it won’t leave us worse off. We are not
financially exposed."
Do you think Kent fans will
turn out on force for the home game at The Oval?
Wednesday, July 07 2010
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