Nottinghamshire batsman Michael Lumb, fearing that twenty20 cricket in England is falling behind the other premier domestic competitions across the world, has called for the English game to take inspiration from the success of the KFC T20 Big Bash League.
Lumb, representing the Sydney Sixers in the annual eight-team tournament, spoke of the need to improve the English product in a bid to attract new fans to the sport, boosting attendances along the way.
"The UK is crying out for a city-based franchise," Lumb told ESPN Cricinfo.
"Playing in T20, we have fallen way behind. Compared to the IPL, the Big Bash… I think we're nowhere. The crowds aren't as good. I definitely think we can improve our product.
“I think the Suits in England need to get out and watch the game over here and see what this is about because we are falling way behind the rest of the world.”
"City franchises might alienate a few but the new T20 competition is totally different to the traditional County Championship.
"The competition is made to create new fans. You haven't got your diehard fans; it's about kids and families coming along.”
“I think the Suits in England need to get out and watch the game over here," Michael Lumb
Lumb has represented Nottinghamshire for the past three years after time with Hampshire. During his time at Trent Bridge, Lumb has been witness to some of Nottinghamshire’s best ever domestic attendances.
2014 saw Trent Bridge attract record crowds for the NatWest T20 Blast, passing 10,000 for the tournament’s opening fixture against Lancashire Lightning, and again for the visit of Leicestershire Foxes and the Outlaws’ quarter-final against Hampshire, which proved particularly pleasing for Outlaws mainstay Riki Wessels, now one of Lumb’s teammates at the Sixers.
“Nowhere compares to Trent Bridge in terms of the atmosphere generated at T20 matches,” he added.
Nottinghamshire CEO Lisa Pursehouse added that the key to success for twenty20 cricket in England may not just lie in the events on the pitch, but the strength of the entire experience for fans.
“One thing I would like to see is a consistent quality in-venue experience. We know the actual t20 cricket product is popular with spectators, but in the UK we cannot always guarantee the sunshine so we need to make a little more effort on the extras,” she said.
Nottinghamshire total group stage T20 attendance in 2013: 40,605
Nottinghamshire total group stage T20 attendance in 2014: 60,982
“It's about doing the small things well and investing in the production of the event elements. A quality music/PA system, using relevant graphics and video content to make best use of the replay screens.
“Making sure your staff are briefed and welcoming to new customers; using your players to promote your matches so that people develop an affinity for the Club.
“To summarise, making sure that your delivery matches your marketing and that the match experience ensures that people want to return. We've targeted families and tried to create an atmosphere that appeals to a multi generational audience which has proved popular with members and non-members.”
Lumb targets the experience as a key component of a successful tournament too. The Big Bash has proven to be a roaring success across the world this winter, with a number of spectacular matches witnessed by crowds regularly exceeding 25,000.
"It's all about the experience rather than this Yorkshire v Lancashire, Notts v Derby sort of rivalry. If you create a good product the new spectators will come,” said Lumb.
“You can see at the Big Bash, a lot of kids, a lot of families. That's what we want - to get young people into the game and see them enjoying it.
"I think this is the best competition in the world at the moment. You play on good wickets, you have guys who bowl 140-150kph, guys who smack it out of the park and exceptional fielding.
"Compared to the product back home where we play on slow, turning, nibbly wickets where guys who wouldn't get away with it on good pitches get a game. The whole thing needs a reshape."
The English domestic T20 is only in its infancy after being rebranded heavily ahead of the 2014 summer. Targeting a succession of Friday night fixtures aiming to refresh the calendar and an expansion of the tournament to include two more home matches in the group stages, the new work has been successful in Nottinghamshire.
Between 2013 and 2014, Trent Bridge has seen a 50.2% rise in attendance with the addition of those two extra fixtures, from 40,605 to 60,982 in twelve months. However the schedule move has polarised the players, Lumb included, not only from a personal perspective but the resulting challenge to recruit world-class overseas talent to the competition.
"As a player I don't really like Friday nights. You don't have much time to prepare as you come straight out of a four-day game into a Friday night game so your preparation is pretty slack.
"If you speak to people, it takes a lot of following. People lose track of what is going on. And as a player, you can lose four or five games and still get into the semi-finals whereas if you condensed it and less teams and less games it puts more onto each game and improves the standard.
“The best players in the world aren't going to come for a three-month window. They are going to come for a shorter period. That's what you want: the best players in the world for a short amount of time, get it done and have a good product."