by Alex Hoad

Kent chief executive Jamie Clifford has refused to panic, despite a ‘disappointing’ crowd of just 3,000 for the first Twenty20 game of the season at Canterbury last Friday.

Many fans felt ticket price hikes to pay-on-the-day £25 impacted the attendance at the St Lawrence Ground for the six-wicket defeat to Middlesex in the Friends Provident t20 clash.

However, Clifford (pictured) says it is too early to say whether ticket prices affected the attendance and claimed the poor weather in the build-up to the match and the start of the football World Cup had contributed to a crowd which was almost half that of the 6,000 believed to be at the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells for the opening home game two days earlier.

Mr Clifford said: "We are only two games into an eight-game home series and the first game went brilliantly and was essentially a sell-out.

"The thing with the Middlesex game was that the weather had been miserable. I think it was raining from 10pm the previous night until midday on the Friday.

"I must say we feared the worst, what with the World Cup starting and the iffy weather. We could see the crowd being down."

He added: "There has been lots of Twenty20 cricket doing the rounds too, games around the country and on television.

"It’s too early to see a trend but I think Twenty20 crowds will be down countrywide this year."

He admitted he was disappointed with the Canterbury crowd but added: "That is more because we have become used to having big crowds over the past few years." Asked whether the club would consider any measures to reduce ticket prices ahead of the next game at Canterbury, Mr Clifford added: "We won’t panic and rush into doing anything. We will look at things on a game by game basis."

Admisssion to t20 game against Essex at The Oval next month will be less expensive than those at the St Lawrence Ground. Tickets cost £20 for adults and £10 for children.

Do you think ticket prices are to blame for the low turnout? What should the club do. Have your say below.