Huge demand for World Twenty20 tickets

Fans swamped telephone lines early on Monday for the event which will be staged next June at Lord's, The Oval, Trent Bridge and Taunton.

"We have seen an unprecedented interest in the tickets for the ICC World Twenty20," tournament director Steve Elworthy said on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Web site (www.ecb.co.uk).

"When ticket lines opened this morning there were literally thousands in the queue waiting to register to purchase tickets for the event in June next year."

He said the ticket agency handling the tournament compared it to demand for a Robbie Williams or Madonna concert, adding that all tickets were expected to be sold within days.

Twenty20 cricket has attracted massive global interest this year with the launch of the Indian Premier League and the announcement of a lucrative eight-team Champions League.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Derek Parr)