KFC Twenty20 Big Bash changing the face of Australian cricket

Melbourne, Jan.20 (ANI): The KFC Twenty20 Big Bash has added fresh vitality to Australia's summer of cricket, with crowds 80 per cent higher than those in the 2008-2009 tournament, Fox News reports.

The final round of preliminary matches saw the total season attendance top 279,000, with the 43,125 spectators who watched Victoria demolish Tasmania at the MCG a record crowd.

At the same time in 2008-2009, 150,734 people had passed through the turnstiles.

Cricket fans in Australia have finally, and lovingly, embraced the shortest form of the game - suggesting that Twenty20 cricket is no longer perceived simply, and derided, as "hit and giggle" cricket. (ANI)