The Olympic Stadium will have a capacity of 80,000 during the Games

Essex are looking into the possibility of playing some of their Twenty20 matches at London's Olympic Stadium.

They have joined West Ham United and Newham Council to assess the viability of using the stadium post 2012.

If successful, the venue could become one of the county's 'festival grounds' after the Games.

Essex chief executive David East told BBC Essex: "The possibility of playing a Twenty20 game in the Olympic Stadium is too good not to explore."

He added: "There's clearly a lot of things to consider; what wicket you play on, is the actual grass area big enough, what the sight-line is like.

We're just exploring all of these opportunities at the moment and seeing where it goes Essex chief executive David East

"There's all sorts of things that need to be considered and we're at the very start of that investigation.

"But it's an exciting thing to consider and we'd be crazy not to explore it."

East suggested that if the cricket club could use the venue, it would be of great benefit for the sport in east London.

"We used to play cricket at Ilford, in Redbridge, until a few years ago, but unfortunately that had to cease," he explained.

"But if we could get back into the Newham area or the east end of London, and maybe even develop a cricket centre of excellence, it would be fantastic.

"We're just exploring all of these opportunities at the moment and seeing where it goes."

East said he had no idea on exactly how long the feasibility study would take, but it would start "as soon as we can".

He added that there was no question of the Olympic Stadium ever being considered as a permanent replacement for the County Ground in Chelmsford.

It has already been reported that West Ham are interested in making the stadium their new home after the Games.

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