Somerset in international series

Somerset clinched the Twenty20 Cup on Saturday

New English champions Somerset have agreed to play in September's inaugural International 20:20 Club Championship.

They will join hosts Leicestershire, South Africa's Nashua Titans, a PCA Masters XI, a combined India/Pakistan XI and celebrity club side Lashings.

The tournament will involve nine matches from 15-17 September.

"We feel we can develop a genuinely innovative tournament that will capture the imagination of players and fans," said tournament director Alex Balfour.

Somerset upset Lancashire at The Brit Oval on Saturday to clinch the third Twenty20 Cup.

Surrey had been mentioned as a possible entrant but they, along with last year's champion Leicestershire, were knocked out in the semi-finals.

Teams have been drawn in groups of three and will play two group matches on the Thursday and Friday of the tournament.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the finals day on Saturday which will consist of two semi-finals and a final, with a £25,000 first prize on offer.

The format has proven spectacularly appealing to our fan base in the East Midlands Neil Davidson Leicestershire chairman

The PCA, Lashings CC and Indo/Pakistani Friendship squads will be announced in the coming weeks but will feature the likes of Chris Cairns, Javagal Srinath and Rohan Gavaskar.

The event organised by Investors in Cricket, the company that runs Leicestershire's commercial interests.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has stressed that it is not an official ECB competition, although the sport's governing body in England has no objections to it.

"IIC has taken up our enthusiasm for Twenty20cricket and the result has been this tournament," said Leicestershire chairman Neil Davidson.

"The format has proven spectacularly appealing to our fan base in the East Midlands, and two weeks ago, Grace Road was completely sold out for our quarter-final against Middlesex.

"We are keen to ensure that the county plays its part in helping the ECB to meet the target of raising spectator levels in domestic cricket by 15% over the next four years".

The ECB announced on Tuesday that 544,820 people attended matches in this year¿s Twenty20 Cup ¿ an increase of 79% on 2004, although there were more games.

Average crowds have gone up by 30% since the inauguration of the competition in 2003.

"The popularity of the Twenty20 Cup continues to grow year on year," said ECB chief executive David Collier.

"Last weekend¿s finals day at the Brit Oval was a great success with just over 20,000 spectators turning up to watch the action.

"And ECB sends its congratulations to Somerset on their first Twenty20 Cup win."