KENT are expecting bumper crowds for their home Twenty20 Cup ties and their NatWest Series international at Canterbury next month after a surge in ticket sales.

More than 5,000 tickets were sold in advance on the club’s website ahead of their Twenty20 opener with Surrey at Beckenham and a similar number of tickets have been sold for the Australia-Bangladesh clash at St Lawrence on Thursday, June 30.

Indeed, demand was so great earlier this week that the county were considering closing their website in order to catch up with the backlog of bookings.

A delighted director of marketing at Kent, Jon Fordham believes the Twenty20 bug and the historic Bangladesh win over Australia in Cardiff have helped create more interest in the county’s forthcoming matches.

"I have to say that a few months back I was worried about advance ticket sales for the international, but I need not have," said Mr Fordham.

"We have already sold almost 5,000 and, having spoken to my counterpart at Cardiff, have found out that the Bangladesh supporters tend to turn up on the day without advance tickets do a crowd of 6,000 to 7,000 is what we might hope for.

"We also have an agreement with Kent County Council for school parties coming from all over the county on the day which is great for the grass roots and the future of the game."

As for the Twenty20 ties Mr Fordham believes there will be no repeat of last season’s disappointing attendances, indeed the county are hoping for record crowds for their four home matches.

"The advance ticket sales for both Beckenham games have exceeded expectation," he added.

"There doesn’t appear to be the culture for advance ticket buying in Canterbury.

"We’ve sold 1,100 to 1,200 tickets for both games at St Lawrence so far and we’ve still got over a week to go, so I’d be very surprised if we didn’t hit 6,000 to 7,000 crowds for those too.

"It’s difficult to keep up with all the organisation and the pre-planning but it’s a problem I don’t mind having. Indeed, I’d say more the merrier."

With such demand Kent officials are again advising supporters to get to the Twenty20 ties early.