The Spitfires have embraced the Twenty20 Cup after a slow start when the competition was first set up.

As holders they are aiming to retain their crown this weekend at the Rose Bowl and we caught up with Paul Millman, chief executive of Kent County Cricket Club, before the big day.

How many tickets have Kent sold ahead of the Twenty20 Cup finals day?

We have sold our allocation of 1,600. What we don’t know is how many have gone directly to the Rose Bowl – our allocation came and went.

Do you think Twenty20 will become the main form of the game in the future?

I think we have got to keep our feet on the ground in terms of how it affects us. There is a balance to be struck between all forms of the game. What happens with Twenty20 is difficult to predict. We don’t know where it is going to end up.

The Twenty20 Premier League is set to be introduced in 2010. Do you think it will change Kent as a club?

I hope not. What we can enjoy is the fact that we’re top of the pile in terms of performances at Twenty20 level. It’s good to be in that position.

There are lots of decisions going on surrounding the Premier League. We have to work hard to make sure we get it right for Kent.

In what ways has Kent made the most of the possibilities the Twenty20 Cup has thrown up?

Performance is key. If you are top of the pile in terms of success and profile then you are in with a shot of making the most of it. All credit to the players for turning it around in two years. We were in a pretty woeful position and have gone from the bottom to the top.

Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell recently said cricket is a business that must be treated as a business. Would you echo that view?

We’re a members’ club and have to strike the right balance between business and what we’re here to do. We are here to provide cricket for everyone in Kent. We have to stay loyal to what the club was set up to do in the 19th century. Some people enjoy watching the county game and others want to see Twenty20 - we have to deliver what people want from Kent cricket.

Is there a big difference between how much money Kent can make from a Twenty20 game compared to an average county match?

From an average county game we’ll sell between 1,000 and 1,500 tickets. Against Surrey in the Twenty20 Cup, we sold between 6,000 and 7,000. You don’t have to be a mathematician to work out that there is a big difference.