Leicestershire, Glamorgan and Worcestershire are leading the calls to play next season's group games in two pools of nine rather than three pools of six, guaranteeing twice the number of home games.

The semi-finals and final of the competition take place at Trent Bridge on 19 July, and the England and Wales Cricket Board says total attendances will reach 255,000 by then.

Four matches brought crowds of over 10,000, with an average of 5,327 over the 45 group games.

A change to two pools of nine would see 72 matches, with each team hosting four matches rather than the current two or three.

Worcestershire, for example, saw average attendances increase from 1,674 in the B&H Cup to 4,046 in the new format, while gate revenues increased six-fold to �45,653.

But, crucially for the Royals, the number of members attending matches increased slightly too, showing traditional audiences have not been alienated.

"Without going overboard we'd like to see a slight expansion," Worcestershire chief executive Mark Newton told The Observer.

"We'd like to keep it as a midsummer festival of cricket and still play it over two or two-and-a-half weeks, like a mini-World Cup, but switch to two groups of nine."