ALASTAIR Saverimutto has insisted that Cherries' experiment with cricket offers just a "small taste" of things to come in the new owners' attempts to generate non-matchday income.

Twenty20 made its debut at Dean Court yesterday and, despite a small crowd of about 600 turning out for the event, co-owner Saverimutto declared himself pleased.

A star-studded PCA Masters side, which included former internationals Mark Alleyne, Ian Harvey, Chris Lewis, Dean Headley, Gladstone Small and Peter Such, lost out to a Hampshire XI in an entertaining clash.

And Saverimutto believes the first of the club's "out-of-the-box" events was a success.

"The idea was to put an event on that didn't involve football and not least to attract new people into the stadium to show them that we exist," he explained.

"One of the things that we have done with the venue and the cricket match is we've been able to capture a lot of new data.

"We'd say 90 per cent of the attendance were non-football so these are all new people.

"This was not all about hit and miss. We're very pleased the event has taken off and people enjoyed the occasion."

Saverimutto, who admitted he would have liked to have seen more people in attendance for the cricket match, thinks ventures such as yesterday's are important to the club's future and he revealed more are being planned.

"It's great to see because out-of-the-box is important for Bournemouth and for my business plan," he told the Daily Echo.

"This is just a small taste of where we'd like to take the venue event theme.

"Already we're talking about a development of this event at the end of the season where the Masters team can take on a representative football XI.

"That side of things would be very interesting, especially when you play a dual code where you've got cricket in the morning and a football match in the afternoon.

"As the business goes we want to put new things on all the time and create a calendar of events.

"You have to start somewhere and we believe this was a great opportunity for us and let's hope we can do more from this, using the information we have from this event.

"We've got things in the pipeline. We're creating a new business here and it's very important we provide the opportunity for the business to develop its revenues."

Yesterday's Twenty20 match provided plenty of entertainment, with the two high-calibre teams producing a lively and, at times, amusing spectacle.

Batting first, Hampshire raced to 210 for eight off their 20 overs.

Star batsman Jimmy Adams top-scored with a rapid 58 from just 29 deliveries. He struck two fours and six sixes, one of which flew out of the stadium.

Adams's support came from Billy Taylor (35) and Greg Lamb (30), while the wickets were shared among the PCA attack.

Former England players Small, Lewis and Such chipped in, with Rob Coombs (2-37 off four overs) returning the best figures.

In reply, the Masters lost wickets early on and never managed to keep up with the required rate, eventually being bowled out for 183.

However, Dean Headley (39), Small (42) and Such (26 not out) - all better known for their bowling - gave the crowd plenty to cheer about late in the day.