Kent are hopeful the controversial Friends Provident t20 home game at The Brit Oval on Friday night will attract a large crowd to give them a financial boost.

Despite falling attendances around the country this summer, Kent chief executive Jamie Clifford said advance sales had been encouraging and he hoped even more fans would turn up on the night to see the Spitfires take on Essex Eagles (5.30pm start).

He said: "We have taken out ads and been leafleting at London stations with trains to and from Kent. There have been lots of marketing and promotional activities.

"We are hoping to attract a ‘commuting audience.’ We’re not looking to drag people up from Ramsgate, we want people who live or work at the other end of the county to take a detour on their way home.

"I hope we’ll have a big crowd. The weather forecast looks good. Hopefully now that the World Cup is drawing to a close and that Wimbledon is over, people can start to get back to cricket."

Mr Clifford (pictured) added: "We are expecting a reasonable crowd. Generally speaking across the country, Twenty20 crowds have been down on last year.

"The trend across Twenty20 as a whole this summer is that people have been leaving it late before making a decision on whether to buy tickets, probably based on the weather forecast.

"The falling attendances is something that is on people’s minds and it was on the agenda at a meeting of the county chairmen on Tuesday.

"Twenty20 is an important part of our agenda and it could be our cash cow but it has to be dealt with properly and there is a danger that things could go too far in terms of the number of games.

"We are doing a number of things differently to try to solve our financial difficulties, this is just one of them.

"Time will tell if it is successful but no matter what happens, it won’t leave us worse off. We are not financially exposed."

Do you think Kent fans will turn out on force for the home game at The Oval?