Attendance increase at the start of the Frizzell County Championship

County cricket received a major boost with the largest crowds for many years recorded across the country for the opening matches of the 2003 Frizzell County Championship season.

Seven matches began on Friday 18 April and each venue attracted a higher attendance than at its opening fixture of the 2002 season. The average gate was up 24% from the corresponding opening match fixtures in 2002.

Worcestershire hosted Hampshire at New Road and reported that their ground admission budget for the entire match had been reached by lunchtime on day one as more than 2,500 spectators passed through the turnstiles. The New Road ticket office also reported membership sales up 14% on 2002.

Nottinghamshire reported its largest opening day crowd for more than 40 years - 3,000 spectators - with record catering receipts earned in the Cricketers Suite restaurant and gate receipts on the opening day of its Frizzell County Championship match against Warwickshire higher than for any one-day match at Trent Bridge in 2002 (other than the floodlit National Cricket League game). Nottinghamshire also reported a surge in membership, more than 10% up on 2002.

Likewise, Derbyshire hosted a larger crowd than for its opening fixture in 2002 and reported that membership sales were significantly up on previous seasons. Gloucestershire, meanwhile, gained record catering turnover for the first day of a county championship match while gate admissions for the match exceeded the total for all five Frizzell County Championship matches played at Bristol in 2002. Essex more than doubled its attendance in comparison to the opening fixture at Chelmsford last year, whist numbers at the AMP Oval were up 30%.