ONE day, perhaps, the bubble will burst but at the start of its third season in England and Wales, Twenty20 cricket is still in a phase of swift growth on three fronts. Administrators want more; the public are happy to support them and the players are relishing the challenge. The great experiment by the ECB is still evolving but the question is how far it should be allowed to expand.

This season each county plays eight regional qualifying matches rather than five, an increase of 60 per cent which at least five county chief executives feel has not gone far enough. With money pouring back into the hitherto modest bank accounts of the clubs whose grounds are too small to stage Tests or internationals, income averaging £30,000 a match is alluring.

Leicestershire have asked the ECB for permission to stage a tournament in the third week in September, while Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan and Sussex, the four clubs with permanent floodlights, have asked the Board to fit an additional tournament of their own into next year’s fixture list. They plan a four-cornered competition in August with a two-legged semi-final, which will be followed by a five-over play-off if each club has won one game.

“I’m sure there is room for a few more games within a flexible fixture list,” Hugh Griffiths, the Sussex chief executive, said. The ECB’s management board is not so sure. At a meeting last week they postponed any decision on whether to give its sanction. “We would not go ahead without the approval of the board or without sponsorship and probably television coverage,” Griffiths said.

He might have added that the players will need to be convinced that extra matches are a good idea. They enjoy the buzz of playing before big crowds and the problems presented by an innings of only 120 balls are interesting to any open mind, whether they confront a batsman, a bowler or a captain. Adam Hollioake, who combined all three roles brilliantly in taking Surrey to the second final last year before they lost for the first time, says that the secret is a personal approach that is precisely the opposite of what is required in four and five-day cricket.

“For me, four-day cricket was so often about constantly geeing yourself up, trying to get the adrenalin flowing, making sure you kept up the intensity,” Hollioake said. “Twenty20 is about calming yourself down, staying cool. The best advice is: don’t panic.”

The UK formula has worked on long summer evenings. Short twilights mean that floodlights are essential for evening matches in tropical countries but the idea has already worked well at domestic level in Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan.

There must be doubt, however, about whether it is wise or necessary to stage more than a strictly limited number of international matches. Not even Australians could deny the success or impact of the England v Australia game at the Rose Bowl but the showbiz maxim “leave them wanting more” seems apt. One match between each touring team and the host country should be the limit. The ICC is biding its time before taking a firm view but more Twenty20 games might threaten the full or nearly-full houses that attend most 50-over internationals.