Do you remember the unconfined joy at school when you were allowed to go in wearing your "own clothes"? A day when the uniform would be consigned to the bedroom floor at the end of term so long as you stuck ten bob in the charity kitty on the way into class? Well, Twenty20 kicks into gear again this week and the feeling is very much the same. Lancashire get started against the Durham Dynamoes at Old Trafford, where each player will reflect the surroundings of the city by stepping out to bat to the tune of Manchester music. Middlesex will play at Lord's (yes, the very same Home of Cricket!) this year in pink shirts as a dedication to Breast Cancer charities, Warwickshire have a Ladies Day scheduled for one match with a 'Beauty Bus' for WAGs of cricket fans rather than players and counties will be vying for the cheesiest headline to their advertising of the events, a contest currently led by Somerset's "Hitty, Hitty, Bang, Bang." Dick van Dyk would choke on the chimney dust at the thought. Whether from west or east of the Pennine Hills though, you would have to be bonkers not to be looking forward to the Roses games, at Headingley on 25th June and in Manchester two days later. The Old Trafford edition has already got rid of 11,000 tickets as it seeks to match last year's success but still some eye the format with suspicion as we head into the fifth Twenty20 Cup. In an interview with Dickie Bird for Cricket Extra, the legendary former umpire cautioned against the whole thing taking over the sport, "unless it gets the youngsters in and away from the television sets: we need to keep the youngsters." Bird also played the predictably conservative card when referring to the Roses clashes, hopeful that the new upstart will not overtake the tradition of the Roses fixture in 4-day cricket in terms of importance and prestige. Of course, Yorkshire - very much against tradition and history - have opted against local talent this season with the signing of South African (and former Lowerhouse professional) Jacques Rudolph as a Kolpak player the major controversy. Rudolph will be someone to watch out for this season, a clean striker of the ball able to play a more measured innings if the situation requires it. More interestingly, with a Twenty20 World Championship in his homeland in September, it'll be interesting to see if SA chase Rudolph to return to the international arena if he is successful - despite renouncing his Test and ODI claims to sign for the White Rose. Lancashire have an abundance of quality themselves and the bowling in particular could be left to the local lads with Glen Chapple and Dominic Cork both doubtful for the start of the group phase and Muttiah Muralitharan heading back to Sri Lanka for a Test Series with Bangladesh. Despite the warnings from Dickie Bird, I'm looking forward to getting back to cricket's "own clothes day". I'm excited about seeing Sanath Jayasuriya for Lancashire, full houses for cricket and people holding banners up in the crowd proclaiming our very own David Lloyd as the best bet for the next Prime Minister. More importantly, with the Finals Day at Warwickshire's Edgbaston base on August 4, perhaps Lancastrian success will give us the chance to commentate live from the 'Beauty Bus'. I wonder what Dickie would make of that... * The Twenty20 cup matches will be LIVE on BBC Radio Lancashire, starting with Lancashire Lightning against Durham Dynamoes on Friday evening. | 
