CRICKET fever has swept Worcestershire with all 6,500 seats snapped up for the County's eagerly anticipated Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy semi-final clash with Lancashire next month.

Capacity for the New Road match on Saturday, August 9, will be increased with the building of two temporary stands and Worcestershire's chief executive Mark Newton has not ruled out boosting the numbers further if possible.

"We've sold out, including for the two temporary stands but are taking a reserve list for tickets," he said.

"We will keep seeking ways to increase the capacity further and squeeze in a few more if at all possible."

The advent of the Twenty20 Cup has seen full houses at New Road and Worcestershire are cashing in on a surge in popularity in the game.

"The cricket has been fantastic over the last two months with the England one-day squad and the Twenty20 cricket," added Newton.

"From Worcestershire's point of view it has been a long time since we've had a semi-final at New Road and it shows the latent interest in cricket in the county."

The last semi-final to be played at New Road was in 1995, also against Lancashire in the Benson & Hedges Cup which Lancashire won by two wickets.

The County's only subsequent semi-final was against Essex in the B&H last season at Chelmsford, in which Essex triumphed by 138 runs.

Worcestershire return to action in the National League Division One against Leicestershire at Oakham School on Sunday, when they hope to have star batsman Graeme Hick back in action after being out for over a month with a hand injury.

The County defend top spot in the Frizzell County Championship Division Two when they take on Derbyshire at New Road, starting next Tuesday (July 15).