WORCESTERSHIRE chief executive Matt Rawnsley says the new ECB 100 Ball competition will help to attract a new generation of fans and provide massive financial support for cricket.

The format arrives in 2020 via the ECB’s new city-based tournament with teams bowling 15 traditional six-ball overs plus a new 10-ball over.

Games will be played in a five-week block mostly during the summer school holiday to target a fresh family audience.

Rawnsley was at Lord’s with fellow county chiefs to hear of the plans and gave it a resounding thumbs-up.

He will field questions on the competition at his first public forum in the Graeme Hick Pavilion on Friday at 9.30am ahead of the County Championship match with Nottinghamshire at Blackfinch New Road.

Rawnsley said: “I’ve had a bit of time to think about things and there are some details still to be worked out but I like it.

“If it pans out the way I think it will, it will bring a lot of new people into the game and that is exactly the point.

“We want a new generation of fans and people coming to support and watch cricket.

“Hopefully they will get interested in the game and then go to support their local cricket club or come to New Road.

“That is the point of it and ultimately this is a product that is saleable for the broadcasters and it gives us the money we need in the game.

“It’s about bringing money in for the health of the game in general across the whole region, different formats, for women’s cricket, kids' cricket in schools, clubs and local communities and disability cricket.

“It is basically generating a lot of money to give everyone the resources they need to grow the game and secure its future for the next generation.”

Ex-County spinner Rawnsley knows from his own experiences with a young family how important it is for youngsters to understand the sport.

He said: “You watch a game of football and rugby and know who is winning but in cricket it is very difficult to know who is winning until it is nearly over.

“This format gives that new generation of people who don’t understand the game an accurate picture of where you are at and I hope this could be supported by a new format of scoreboard and enhanced technology in the ground."

Rawnsley is aware of the opposition from traditionalists but points out they are not the audience being targeted.

He said: “Many people are saying this is potentially a nail in the coffin for the game.

“With the greatest of respect, purists who like the longer form of the game, like me, are not the target for this new innovation.

“We’ve got T20 cricket that those same people said would never work in the late 1990s, calling it a farce, a joke and look what that has become.

“Who knows what this might become? It might not work but let’s give it a chance. I think it is a really brave move.

“Undoubtedly certain skill levels have improved, in fielding for example, and T20 cricket has driven a lot of that.

“But ultimately it is about the finance it brings into the game to secure other formats in the future.”