English domestic and international cricket crowds increase

T20 Blast crowds rose by an average of 800 per game from 2014 to 2015

Crowds at domestic and international cricket matches are at their highest level since the England & Wales Cricket Board was formed 18 years ago.

Fans at all forms of county cricket - four-day, one-day and Twenty20 - were all up on the previous year, with the Championship up by 18,000 to 513,000.

One-Day Cup attendances were up by 500 per match on 2014, while there were 800 more T20 spectators per game.

With an Ashes summer, international attendances were up by 75,000 on 2014.

"Across the summer attendances grew for each of the county competitions as well as the international games," said ECB chief executive Tom Harrison.

"These figures reflect a big effort by the counties, our international venues and partners to enhance the match-day experience, improve facilities and make our cricket grounds as fan-friendly and accessible as possible.

"They are all good signs and there are big opportunities ahead. We know that there's more that can be done to draw people to watch and play cricket and further improve standards across the game."

The ECB announced in September that there would be no major structural changes to county cricket for 2016, despite proposals to cut the Championship from 16 to 14 teams.

Hampshire were one of only two counties to see their attendances rise in all three formats in 2015.

T20 Blast matches at the Ageas Bowl experienced a 20% increase compared with the previous year.

The county admitted the completion of the ground's £50m redevelopment, including a hotel and leisure complex including new media facilities, had been a factor.

"To be one of only two counties to show improvements in all three formats is fantastic and the on-field successes and hard work behind the scenes have no doubt contributed significantly to this," said commercial director Stuart Robertson.