TIME to dust down the barbecues and inflate the bouncy castles. Twenty20 enters its third season today with its reputation standing greater than ever. People may argue about the future of the concept at international level but its place in the domestic calendar is assured. This summer there is more than ever.

The expansion of the group stage means that counties will now play a minimum of eight matches; those that contest the final at the Oval on July 30 will have taken part in 11. There is a danger of reaching saturation point, especially with 72 matches crammed into the next fortnight, but the public has lapped up everything so far.

The joy of Twenty20 lies not at the highest level but at grounds such as Grace Road, where full houses last year could only generate optimism for the future of the game. Leicestershire begin their defence against Nottinghamshire today and with good travelling support, officials expect a capacity crowd of about 5,000.

Elmore Leonard, the distinguished crime writer, attributed the success of his books to the fact that he left out the parts that readers skipped. Twenty20 is limited overs without the middle passage that many find tedious, and while cynics still refer to the competition as a “slogathon”, the truth is that skills have been heightened.

Far from turning to club cricket in search of the bulkiest hitters, or resting their best players to give youngsters a game, counties have realised the value of experience. Leicestershire’s victory in the final last season came about when Brad Hodge and Jeremy Snape deciphered the signal for Adam Hollioake’s slower ball.

Hollioake, whose Surrey team had not lost in the competition until that point, reveals in this month’s issue of All Out Cricket magazine how players thought that Twenty20 would be a joke. He said: “I had this image of the Flora Doris evening league in Surrey where people walked to the wicket after a couple of jars in DM boots and the like. It was only when papers and magazines started picking up on it that we felt it had a chance of turning into something big.”

The average crowd last season was up by about 1,000 to 5,800, that figure having been swollen by the 27,500 who watched Middlesex play Surrey at Lord’s. The same fixture this season sold out with so little marketing that it enabled money to be redirected into promoting England’s Test match against Bangladesh at Lord’s.

Counties have realised that frippery can be overdone. The game is too quick for spectators to indulge in much more than a stroll to the beer tent, which can occupy most of the 15-minute break between innings. Gimmicks are evolving to complement the action. Derbyshire, who are using the slogan “The joy of six”, have hired a jazz band to play live jingles after each boundary and wicket during their final match.

Leicestershire were unlikely winners in 2004 and the departure of Hodge to Lancashire has weakened the batting. But Darren Maddy, the most prolific batsman in the format, is still there and it is not being facetious to note that a number of their players gained further experience of the format in South Africa last winter.

Surrey must overcome the absence of Hollioake, who realised faster than most the value of yorkers and slower balls during the closing stages. He also emphasised the importance of orthodox batting, especially in the opening overs, and worked out that attacking fields could serve as a form of defence.

Otherwise, Essex and Middlesex, as the leading contenders in the 45-over totesport League, must come into the equation and Lancashire, despite the loss of Andrew Flintoff to England, cannot underachieve forever. The sight of Muttiah Muralitharan bowling to batsmen who have to attack could be one of the most intriguing of the summer.

BY THE NUMBERS

HIGHEST TOTAL: 221, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Surrey
LOWEST TOTAL: 67, Sussex
HIGHEST SCORE: 116*, G A Hick (Worcestershire), I J Thomas (Glamorgan)
FASTEST HUNDRED: 34 balls, A Symonds (Kent)
MOST RUNS: 532 (13 matches), D L Maddy (Leicestershire)
MOST SIXES: 20, Maddy
BEST BOWLING: 5-14, A D Mascarenhas (Hampshire)
MOST WICKETS: 36 (14 matches), A J Hollioake (Surrey)
MOST SIXES IN A MATCH: 20, Yorkshire v Leicestershire
ODDS: 7-1 Lancashire, Surrey; 8-1 Glamorgan; 10-1 Warwickshire; 12-1 Essex, Kent, Worcestershire.
TV: Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire, Sky Sports 1, from 5.30pm