Peter Moores is backing Sussex players to come good in the Twenty20 Cup.

The county are struggling in both the Championship and National League, having won just three of their last 14 games.

But director of cricket Moores believes Twenty20, which starts tonight (7.30pm) with a home tie against the inaugural winners Surrey, has come at the ideal time for his side.

Despite losing their first two matches in the south group last season, Sussex finished with the best record outside the four counties who qualified for finals day.

After winning three out of five it was no coincidence that they went on to produce better results in the longer format of the one-day game.

The omens for Twenty20 glory this summer don't look good. Sussex have won just four of their ten one-dayers so far and, as Moores acknowledges, the shortened format just magnifies the skills you need to succeed in 45 or 50 over matches.

But he believes Sussex have enough explosive talent in their ranks to make an impact in a competition which has been expanded to take in a knockout quarter-final round on July 19.

"We've had a difficult first half to the season, but that's behind us and we are all looking forward to Twenty20 again," he said.

"Who wouldn't? Both of our home games look like being played in front of full houses with one on Sky television and generally it seems there is just as much enthusiasm from the public for Twenty20.

"If you can get a lot of people into any ground it suddenly becomes a great place to be and the players feed off that.

"The competition re-ignited us in the National League last season. It showed that we could do everything to a better standard, right down from fielding to running between the wickets.

"If you have 11 guys who are right up for it from the start you can make yourself hard to beat and I've no doubts about us on that score.

"Apart from the Surrey game last year, when we were very lacklustre, we did well. We only lost the first match against Hampshire by five runs and won the other three. We gained some confidence from it and I expect us to do the same if we go hell for leather from the first ball."

The top two in each of the three six-team groups will automatically qualify for the last eight along with the two best third-placed teams but the odds are stacked against Sussex who are on the road for three of their games. They lost both away matches last season.

In the end it will come down to the specifics.

Who has a good slower ball, which team can nick a run or two every over which could add up to another 30 or 40 on the total, who are the better close-to-the-wicket fielders and which players know when to attack or hold what they have.

One thing the first Twenty20 competition established was that players who do the basics well will prosper.

Spinners didn't get smacked out of the ground, batsmen still had time to assess the situation before going for their shots and seamers who didn't mix their pace took some awful hammer.

"I think Gloucestershire have proved it over the years that if you do the specifics well you can go far," added Moores.

"Bowlers better have a good slower ball and be able to mix their pace up a bit, while as a batsman you need to keep a cool head.

"There's no need to go gung-ho from the off, it is possible to score eight or nine an over as long as you don't lose wickets in Twenty20."

The ECB were overwhelmed by the public response last year when over 250,000 people watched the competition and the indications are that the novelty hasn't worn off.

Sussex have already sold more than 2,000 tickets for today's opener with Surrey and are installing 500 extra seats at the Cromwell End which means the boundaries will have to be brought in.

Nearly 1,000 have gone for their other home fixture on Friday week against Hampshire when the ECB roadshow will be in attendance. Corporate hospitality is sold out for both games and Sussex are on course to equal the £40,000 they took in gate money alone last year from one less game.

Away from the action, coaching for youngsters will be available, but after 4,000 have been shoehorned in there is very little room left at the County Ground to put on counter-attractions. There's not even time during a ten-minute interval to let kids play on the outfield.