A History of Finals Day: Mascot derbies, sing-offs and title triumphs

With T20 Blast Finals Day upon us again for another year, in its 16th edition, The Cricketer charts the history of Finals Day in all its guises, from the wonderful to the wacky

^{T20 Finals Day is full of the wonderful and the wacky, providing an entertaining spectacle as the showpiece event of the domestic calendar}

Since its inaugural edition in 2003, the competition now known as the T20 Blast has thrilled and excited cricket audiences up and down the country, with no part of the tournament having done that more so than Finals Day.

Finals Day has morphed from a fun day out aimed at attracting new cricket fans into the showpiece event of the English domestic summer, playing to sold out audiences of over 24,000 people and showcasing entertaining action both on and off the field.

With T20 Blast Finals Day upon us again for another year, in its 16^th edition, The Cricketer charts the history of Finals Day in all its guises, from the wonderful to the wacky.

Finals Day began at Trent Bridge in the first Twenty20 Cup, Lord’s having been thwarted from being the venue due to Westminster City Council’s decision to refuse the ground the entertainment licence it needed for the event to be staged. Indeed, the tournament very nearly did not happen as all of the counties squabbled over the idea.

Why was an entertainment licence needed? Well, pop music acts Atomic Kitten and United Colours of Sound provided the light relief between matches as the carnival of T20 cricket took its first brave steps in England.

^{Pop group Atomic Kitten performed at the first T20 Finals Day in 2003}

No doubt there was plenty of opposition to the entertainment but the 15,000 sell-out surely did not care as Surrey Lions romped to the title in its first year, figures of 4-11 for James Ormond and 55 not out from Ali Brown guiding the county to victory over Warwickshire Bears.

Edgbaston hosted Finals Day for the first time in 2004, the first of ten separate occasions, as Leicestershire emerged as the first ever shock champions, beating reigning winners Surrey in the final thanks to a brilliant knock of 77 not out from Brad Hodge. The Oval played host to Finals Day the following year with Somerset winning their first, and only, T20 title after defeating Lancashire by seven wickets.

In 2006 and 2011, Leicestershire added to their crowns at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston by beating Nottinghamshire and Somerset in the respective finals. This made them at the time, and still makes them now, the most successful side in the history of English domestic T20 cricket, quite a feat for a county with such small resources.

The 2006 final, in a sodden Nottingham, was particularly infamous for its controversial finish whereby the final delivery, which was smashed for six by Will Smith, was not deemed a no ball despite being a waist-high full toss, meaning that Nottinghamshire missed out by four runs.

T20 BLAST NEWS

In achieving the three-victory feat, the tournament developed a reputation for producing underdog winners and serving as another opportunity for side’s struggling in the traditional formats to find their feet. The 2011 final, also, provided club legend Paul Nixon with the perfect occasion to retire from first-class cricket on.

Kent, Middlesex and Sussex registered their first Finals Day title triumphs in three consecutive years, 2007, 2008 and 2009, with Kent defeating Gloucestershire, Middlesex besting Kent in an extremely tight 3-run victory as the Spitfires ran out time, and Sussex recording the second highest ever win margin by runs in the final, defeating Somerset by 63-runs.

2010 Finals Day, the second to be held at the then Rose Bowl in Southampton, proved to be a hugely dramatic affair as Hampshire won their maiden crown on fewer wickets lost with the run scores tied. On a wet day, Hampshire and Somerset made their way into the final and the ‘away’ side posted a highly respectable 173-6 in the first innings. In the final over of Somerset’s innings, though, Kieron Pollard was struck in the eye when a ball went through his helmet. In the chase, Dan Christian pulled his hamstring in the final over with Hampshire requiring eight runs to win.

^{The mascot race has been a feature of Finals Day from the start}

With a leg bye scored, Hampshire tied the scores and realised they had won after realising that they had lost fewer wickets than their opponents. To prevent this happening again, the ECB adopted the practice of super overs to settle tied games from 2013.

2012 proved to be the last Finals Day to be held outside Edgbaston to this date, with deals struck between Edgbaston and ECB to stage the final at the Birmingham ground best known for its boisterous atmosphere for the following seven years up to and including for the 2019 tournament. In the home Olympic year, Cardiff played host to Finals Day for the first time, and only to date, where Hampshire became two-time winners after beating Yorkshire, who have never won the tournament, by 10-runs.

In the next four years, a new reign of underdog dominance began with Northamptonshire reaching three out of the four finals, including winning two titles in 2013 and 2016. Shockingly, Northants destroyed established T20 side Surrey in the final in 2013 to upset the apple cart and become the newest side to add their name to the tournament’s honours list, David Willey starring with bat and ball including taking the first ever Finals Day hat-trick.

Birmingham, despite possessing ‘home’ advantage at the majority of Finals Days, only managed to secure their first triumph in 2014 while Lancashire and Nottinghamshire also secured their maiden trophies in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Of course, alongside the drama on the pitch, Finals Day has become renowned for its spectacle off of the pitch too. One of the major sideshows which has featured across the years is the annual mascot race, featuring mascots from every county side racing through an obstacle course to be crowned the mascot race winner. As light comic relief the event has served its purpose well providing laughs a plenty, especially as David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd commentates on it while running beside the race participants.

Entertainment away from the cricket reached a new level in 2017, though, as the break between the second semi-final and final was dominated by a sing-off between Bumble and former England allrounder Andrew Flintoff. With both men known for their showmanship, this karaoke battle was far from quiet with Bumble singing Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ before Flintoff sung Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’.

^{Andrew Flintoff provided much of the entertainment in 2017 when he fell over while signing dressed as Elvis}

The pair then sang duet for Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ where Flintoff provided the extraordinary image of him falling over a speaker while filming himself singing. Never change Freddie…

So, there you have it. Never dull and rarely lacking for drama, T20 Finals Day has had some journey over the past 15 years and this looks set to only continue. We now await to see what T20 Blast Finals Day 2018 has in store for us…