THIS summer's Twenty20 competition has proved to be a real bonus - and not just for the county game.

Group matches this season have been played to full houses and the kick on from that has seen more youngsters taking an interest at club level.

It is now up to the clubs to make the most of that generation of enthusiasm in the game at grassroots level, but there is no doubt that the experiment has been a massive boost throughout cricket.

It was just a shame that for our area Lancashire did not make the big showdown for the semi and finals day at Edgbaston.

But it is hard to put the finger of blame on any one player in the Lancashire side because it was a game that was there to win but the decisions made out on the field just didn't pay off.

Having managed to bowl Surrey out for a little over 130 Lancashire had to be confident of winning.

But then different factors come in to play.

Andrew Flintoff went in as opener and if he had belted 60 or 70 then the game was over, but sometimes it doesn't happen.

In the end it came down to seven runs off the last over and at that point it really is down to the thinking of the two guys at the crease.

It was down to skipper Warren Hegg and Chris Schofield and they were the ones who could see what was happening.

There will have been two schools of thought.

You could think that two boundaries could have won it so just go for it, or you could have scampered the runs - but the reality is that you still need to get the bat on the ball.

As it was, Azhar Mahmood put the ball in the right place to put the pressure on and he did the job well enough to contain the Lancashire batsmen.

Spin twins are not an option

THE pundits have been talking about England playing two spinners in the third Test at Old Trafford, but I can't see that being of any advantage to the home side.

Gareth Batty is being tipped to play, but I really don't see that the spinners are going to get that much out of the Manchester track.

If it was going to be a dustbowl then Batty partnering Ashley Giles could be a viable threat, but the current weather doesn't suggest they will be playing on a dry pitch - in fact they might be lucky just to play.

If anything I feel that there could be a little more bounce in the wicket and if a change were to be made then Simon Jones might be a better option to use whatever pace there is in the pitch.

But with England having won the first two Tests by 250-plus runs why tinker with a side that is already winning?