In national terms, counties don’t get much more unfashionable than Leicestershire, who last night became the first county to win the Twenty20 Cup twice after surviving a late scare to triumph in a thrilling contest by four runs. Of the XI that beat neighbours Nottinghamshire on their own patch of Trent Bridge, only two — captain Jeremy Snape and Darren Maddy — have been awarded one-day international caps and the last of those pre-dates the advent of Twenty20 in 2003.

It’s a pretty strange state of affairs when England so obviously struggle to master the shorter forms of the game.

Well, England’s loss is Leicestershire’s gain. Snape put his “moon balls” to good effect in taking four for 22 in the semi-final defeat of Essex, and his removal of Stephen Fleming turned the final — although a spirited late flourish in the rain from Samit Patel and Mark Ealham so nearly swung the contest in the home side’s favour. It came down to 17 needed off the final over, bowled by James Allenby, and that was asking too much, although some in the Notts camp were adamant that the last delivery, which Will Smith hit for six, should have been a no ball, above waist high. Patel had no doubts. He said: “It was clearly a no-ball and it’s cost us a chance to win the final.”

Maddy played a brilliantly paced innings to give his side something decent to defend. His unbeaten 86 off 61 balls was the highest individual score in a Twenty20 final, while Leicestershire’s 177 for two was also a final record. In the process he became the first batsman to pass 1,000 runs in the tournament’s history. Maddy hit six fours and four sixes but just as important was his speed between stumps.

Leicestershire thoroughly spoiled the day of their opponents, who had been inspired by strong local support on their home ground to rout Surrey, the inaugural winners of the Twenty20 Cup, in the semi-final. It was estimated that their supporters made up around two-thirds of the 15,000 crowd inside Trent Bridge. They left for home a disconsolate lot.

Maddy received able support from Allenby in a second-wicket partnership of 133 from 159 balls. Neither gave a chance, although Maddy was nearly caught by Gareth Clough when he had made 13.

As the semi-finals illustrated, the key to Twenty20 cricket is getting a solid start. Lose wickets early and the innings tends to flounder; keep them in hand, and a healthy tempo can be maintained. In the final, Leicestershire lost only one wicket in the first eight overs; Notts lost one too. The losing semi-finalists, Essex and Surrey, lost two and four respectively in the first eight overs.

Leicestershire believed they had won a good toss in the final because they had batted second only once this year and are adept at defending. They also thought chasing under lights would be hard. In the end, Snape was proved right — just.

But their hopes that Snape and Claude Henderson, their two spinners, could slow the scoring-rate in the middle of the innings initially failed to materialise as the surface greased up with the evening dew. Their first two overs cost 25 but then Snape made the breakthrough.

Leicestershire’s drought of international recognition may soon be over, though, because one of their stars was young Stuart Broad, who throughout the tournament gave very little away and walked off with the £1,500 prize for the most economical bowler in the event. His eight overs in the day cost only 41 and brought the key wickets of Ronnie Irani in the semi-final and David Hussey in the final.

His removal of Hussey, caught in the covers driving at a ball cleverly delivered from wide of the crease, was crucial. Hussey had hit 37 from 22 balls and was looking increasingly dangerous, but with Fleming having fallen in the previous over for 53 from 39, Hussey needed to stay.

Arguably the country’s most exciting young fast bowling prospect, Broad will have featured in selectorial discussions this weekend ahead of The Oval Test but it was thought more likely that Jon Lewis would remain the 12th member of the squad behind the XI that won at Headingley. The England team looks sure to be unchanged, provided Matthew Hoggard is not still troubled by the knee he jarred in Leeds.

If he misses out at The Oval, Broad may well feature in the one-dayers against Pakistan. “He’s a real goer,” Irani said of Broad. “He nipped the ball both ways off the seam, a bit like Glenn McGrath.”

It was a day of mishaps. Leicestershire’s John Sadler broke his nose when he was struck by the ball during practice and Chris Read, the England wicketkeeper, had a tooth knocked out when he was hit in the mouth by a ball that deflected off Jonathan Batty’s hip in the semi-final.

Nottinghamshire deserved something out of the day. They were ably led by Fleming, who threatened to emulate the inspirational performance of Graeme Smith, who led Somerset to glory in the Twenty20 Cup last year.

Ryan Sidebottom, one of the best swing bowlers around on his day, bowled admirably and Charlie Shreck picked up three wickets in the semi-finals. Will Smith was outstanding in the field, completing a run out and four catches — one quite brilliant to dismiss Azhar Mahmood — in the semi-final.

Azhar had swung a leg-side full toss towards the backward square leg boundary and had every right to expect it to carry for six but Smith, in an amazing feat of athleticism, lept high and got both hands above his head to complete the catch.