Hot tubs and the Twenty20 buzz

Players get in the Twenty20 spirit ahead of this year's much-anticipated competition

The sight of a hot tub at a cricket ground can only mean one thing: the Twenty20 Cup is upon us.

As the cheerleaders splashed around and the sun beat down at Headingley Carnegie, there was an unmistakeable sense that the most talked-about form of the game has arrived.

The competition gets under way tomorrow, with the usual mix of bumper crowds, booming music, dancing girls and boundaries aplenty.

It is a combination that certainly brings the best out of Samit Patel, Nottinghamshire’s leading scorer in last year’s competition and a player tipped by many seasoned observers to make an impact on the international scene before long.

“I really look forward to the Twenty20,” he told ecb.co.uk as the Outlaws’ first game of the season against Yorkshire on Friday beckoned.

“It’s a buzz. You come out in front of a big crowd, it’s a quick game, it’s all entertaining – that’s what we’re here to do.”

Samit Patel can see only one direction in which the Twenty20 Cup is heading

It is a view shared wholeheartedly by Derbyshire all-rounder Graeme Wagg, who claims the phenomenon that is Twenty20 cricket fits perfectly with his philosophy towards the game.

“Twenty20 is me,” he told ecb.co.uk ahead of his side's game at Durham tomorrow. “I love it – the atmosphere, the crowds, everything.

“With the way I play my cricket, it’s me. I like to give it a smack, the crowd is buzzing, you’re buzzing.

“You can give it everything for two hours of your life, and every game is like a final to us.”

If the Twenty20 Cup was initially treated as a fun-filled month of hit-and-giggle cricket when it was launched in 2003, it has captured the public and players’ attention to such an extent that is now seen by many clubs as the one-day competition to win.

If there was anyone who still questioned the importance attached to Twenty20 cricket, they cannot fail to have changed their opinion following last week’s announcement that the finalists this summer will compete in the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League at the end of the summer, with a staggering $5million up for grabs.

Indeed, amid the bare midriffs and pom poms at the tournament launch at Headingley, the players’ focus appears sharper than ever on winning.

Derbyshire all-rounder Graham Wagg shows his liking for 20-over cricket during last year's event

“The money involved is tremendous,” said Wagg. “They are life-changing sums of money – to individuals and to the club.

“We played to win before, but this does give you an extra incentive, definitely.

“It will be a brilliant thing to go out and play against teams from Australia, India and South Africa, but that’s a long way off at the moment.”

Patel is in no doubt as to the direction Twenty20 is heading.

He added: “It’s only going to go one way and that’s up – it’s going to go global and it would be great to be part of that.

“Prize money has increased and there are a lot of good players that want to play. Big signings will come, I’m sure of that, and it can only be good for cricket.

“When we play against Yorkshire on Friday, there will be young kids in with their mums and dads, who might not even like cricket.

“You’d never see that at some games, but Twenty20 means they can come down after work, get a taste of it, then find out they like it. It’s perfect.”