LANCASHIRE chief executive Daniel Gidney says counties are in danger of losing LV= County Championship cricket if they do not find ways to boost ailing attendances.

The Red Rose club, who are on par with the 1,000 nationwide average daily crowd for a day of four-day cricket, last week experimented by moving the start time for each day of their clash with Leicestershire to 12.30pm instead of 11am.

They hoped to attract more spectators into the ground after school and work for a little more than the evening session, with play finishing at approximately 7.30pm.

They charged £5 for adults and £1 for juniors after 4pm each day of a fixture which finished inside three days.

Sunday’s first day, being a weekend, was always going to be difficult to assess, and 42 overs were lost to bad light anyway.

Approximately an extra 50 paid the reduced admission on Monday’s second day before a conference in The Point on Tuesday increased the numbers further.

“For us, it was about saying 'Championship cricket is important to us and we have to take a 10-year view to make sure we don't end up in a situation where we've got 100 people coming to watch a match’,” said Gidney.

“Then it really does become unsustainable.

“Championship cricket is the bedrock of our game. Without Championship cricket, there is no Test cricket. I passionately believe that.

“If you can't prove yourself in the Championship, you can't go straight from T20 into a Test match. I don't see how you can do that.

“In 10 or 15 years, somebody might prove me wrong, but I don't believe you can.

“We have to do what we can to protect the Championship. It's not widely supported around the country. T20 has taken over as the main commercial attraction.

“The averages around the country are about 1,000 a day. That's still not enough.

“This was an opportunity to say 'if you want to come, but you're at school or work, which is the vast majority of the population, we want to give you an opportunity to come in’.

“Doing it for the last session at £5 for an adult and £1 for kids, we're taking away any excuses people have. I know if I was working in central Manchester and had the opportunity to come even for an hour, I would.”

Lancashire have no plans to replicate the experiment again this season having gone beyond the longest day of the year.