ESSEX pulled in more than £400,000 in gate receipts from their five Twenty20 Cup South Division fixtures.

The figure represents more than the county collects from three complete seasons of ticket sales for LV County Champion-ship matches.

And, with the Eagles hosting Northants Steelbacks at the Ford County Ground, Essex are set for one last £85,000 pay-day on Monday.

Chief executive David East admitted the huge influx of extra money available since the inception of the Twenty20 Cup in 2003 had transformed the county's financial position.

"Twenty20 has changed the way that we budget - it's as simple as that," East told the Echo.

"It has transformed our income quite significantly.

"As a gross figure, including VAT, we take about £85,000 through the gate at every home Twenty20 game.

"To put it into context, we take more money on one night of Twenty20 cricket than we do in three seasons of County Championship cricket.

"That is how important it is to us and how important it is to our budgeting. It has changed our financial map.

"Obviously there is expenditure on the other side of that, including an ECB-agreed proportion that is given to the opposition, but it is still very significant and helps us greatly."

Essex's decision to install permanent floodlights at their Chelmsford headquarters in 2002 now looks like an extremely wise one.

Two of the county's four evening Twenty20 group matches was sold out, while the "Full House" signs will be up again well before Monday's match starts at 7.40pm.

And that cash will be welcome as, unlike in football, Essex will not receive any extra money from SKY TV, despite the fact that Northants' visit, and that of Yorkshire for Saturday's Friends Provident Trophy semi-final, will both be screened live.

"We work under a centrally-agreed contract where we receive the same revenue whether we're on once or 10 times," East explained.

"However, what live coverage does is increase our sponsorship and advertising opportunities by adding value to them."

With multi-million pound plans to redevelop their headquarters well past the planning stage, East admitted that the Twenty20 cash-cow had arrived at a perfect time.

And the former Essex wicket-keeper freely admitted that reaching the inaugural Champions League - complete with its £2.4million winners' cheque - was top of the county's list of priorities.

"Our focus at the moment is winning the Twenty20 Cup," he added candidly.

"If we can do that, then the financial benefits will follow.

"That would be an enormous help because we've got some major expenditure coming up, most notably the redevelopment of the Ford County Ground.

"So if we could tap into a pay-day like that, it would make an enormous difference to us going forward.

"Fingers crossed we can get there."

>A SMALL number of tickets are still available for Saturday's Friends Provident Trophy semi-final against Yorkshire Carnegie at the Ford County Ground (12.05pm start) priced at £18 for adults and £9 for juniors.

To purchase tickets, call 01245 254010.