With Twenty20 cricket pulling in huge crowds up and down the country and County Championship matches regularly bringing in something more like two men and a dog, it seems that the purists' game is sitting on ground far from steady. But is the County Championship in England destined for the scrapheap?

Last summer was a forgettable season all round as freak weather patterns saw game after game washed out or shortened so much that a result was unattainable. Any fan who ‘discovered’ cricket in 2007 would surely have been put off (if not frozen to death) by the artic conditions and loss of play.

By their very nature, one-day games were able to dodge the weather more successfully than the sodden County game and the limited overs competitions were able to gain more momentum and interest than the rainy, draw-filled Championship. It is fair to say that of all forms of the game, the County Championship took more damage than any other at the hands of Britain’s worst summer.

'One reason why the County Championship is perhaps seen to be losing popularity is the lack of coverage it receives'

The growing popularity of the Twenty20 game, first played in England in 2003, has attracted a new type of fan to the game. Those with shorter attention spans may lose interest in a four-day match, but are glued to their seat for the duration of an action-packed 40-over match. It should not be assumed that one form of the game is poaching spectators off another; instead the newer forms of the game are diversifying cricket’s fan base.

One reason why the County Championship is perhaps seen to be losing popularity is the lack of coverage it receives. Test match cricket still receives huge amounts of broadcasting interest whilst in domestic cricket the Pro40, Friends Provident Trophy and hugely popular Twenty20 competition dominate summer sports coverage on the television. Occasionally, just occasionally, there may be an important County Championship game televised, but very rarely.

But for all this, the County Championship is not without its fans and admirers. The original and ‘pure’ form of the game has survived well over a century and toppled obstacles far greater than pink cricket balls and brightly coloured pyjamas. County cricket would not be county cricket without the four-day game that is its backbone.