Over the last 20 years Twenty20 cricket has risen from obscurity to dominate much of the cricketing world, but still the 20th season of the competition currently known as the Vitality Blast starts on Wednesday in the midst of a potentially existential crisis.
Though all available tickets for finals day have long been snapped up, disappointing sales have been reported for many of the less high-profile fixtures, and some are questioning its place in an overcrowded calendar since the England and Wales Cricket Board’s laser focus has switched to the Hundred, the rival micro-format which launched last summer.
