Thrilling Evenings Ahead for the NatWest T20 Blast Home Games
13 January 2014
Will Brown is pledging to make each of Gloucestershire’s seven Natwest Twenty20 Blast home group games this summer a comprehensive matchday experience.
The team will start their campaign with a two-point deficit, having been penalised for a sub-standard pitch at Cheltenham last season and will not have the benefit of a second overseas player for budget reasons.
But Gloucestershire are still anticipating bumper attendances and the Chief Executive accepts that to achieve them on a consistent basis the club need to offer a complete family night out.
The first home T20 game is the big local derby against Somerset at Bristol on the evening of Friday May 16th and Will says all the stops will be pulled out to ensure supporters have a night to remember.
He told this website: “That fixture is huge for us. Our new stand development should be completed a couple of weeks beforehand so we should have a capacity of around 8,000.
“We are very excited about the game and it’s a great kick-off to our T20 campaign. There will be a buzz around Bristol in the build-up to it and terrific noise on the night.
“For us it represents a wonderful opportunity to get people in the ground and make it an experience they want to repeat throughout the summer.
“We might be starting out a couple of points light in our group, but for our supporters it will be all about winning the games they attend and giving them the total T20 match experience that makes it a great evening out.
“There are more matches this season in which to make up the two-point deficit so it is not as damaging as it would have been in previous summers.
“We have two home games being televised live by Sky, which always adds to the excitement because they bring a caravan of entertainment with them, and we need to ensure we replicate that when they are not here.”
The new Twenty20 Plus membership, priced at £99, offers subscribers entry to all home matches in the group PLUS weekend days play in LV=County Championship fixtures and 50-over Cup group games.
Will said: “We think this is a particularly attractive offer because we have a had a lot of feedback since I have been here from people who are unable to attend matches during weekdays.
“We hope this will suit them and together with the T20 home games it ensures at least 14 days of cricket across three competitions for just under £100, which can’t be bad.”
