The Brit Oval on Friday night Picture: Barry Goodwin

by Graham Jones

Kent’s historic home t20 game at The Oval failed to provide the big financial boost the club had originally hoped for, but chief executive Jamie Clifford still felt it was a worthwhile exercise.

A crowd of 6,720 made the trip to Surrey for the penultimate home game of the Spitfires’ t20 campaign against Essex Eagles on Friday night.

It was their biggest attendance of the season, but well short of the 11,000 they had originally hoped for when scheduling the fixture during the winter.

Mr Clifford (pictured) said: “Given where twenty20 crowds are, and what it might have been, I think we are quite pleased with that (crowd figure).

“It is not the bumper payday we thought it might have been when we planned this fixture back in December and January.

“But I think we knew from quite a few weeks out that was not going to be the case because you get a flavour on advanced ticket sales as to where you might come out.

“I think we can be satisfied but I think whether we do it again would greatly depend on how the programme shapes up. I think everyone is in that space at the moment of wondering what Twenty20 is going to look like next year.”

Mr Clifford said he had positive feedback from members and supporters who spoke to at The Oval about the game.

“They felt it is a change of scene and for the commuter guys it is the only Twenty20 game they can get to see all season,” he said.

“We’re pleased but we not punching the air, saying it is the best thing we have ever done and we have made a fortune.

“I think we might have estimated back in the winter a crowd of about 11,000 as being what you might expect on a Friday night at The Oval.”

Mr Clifford said the crowd figure needed to make sure the costs of playing at The Oval were covered was quite low and beyond that Kent and Surrey had an arrangement on how the money was shared.

“Let’s be clear we’ve made money from it,” he said. “But people who think this is the solution need to pause for a moment because it isn’t.

“The solution is if you take it there and have an absolutely packed house because for us that completely changes the whole picture.

“A full house there would mean about £150,000 more than we would otherwise get from the fixture. Those are big numbers and that is why you test the water and see if these things work.”

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