Keiraville, West Wollongong, Mt Kembla, Wollongong, Lindsay Park and Mt St Thomas public schools had a host of enthusiastic boys and girls for a half day of T20 fun.

The children were split into teams of eight to 10 and played several 10-over games in which everyone had a bat and a bowl.

The emphasis was on fun through participation, with the T20 Blast program placed after the Milo In2 Cricket clinics before making sure children are ready to commit to Saturday junior cricket.

The traditional cricket of three-hour games was replaced by the short, fast all-action T20 Blast.

"Cricket at this level has had to evolve and move with the times and the modified T20 Blast program is the best way of introducing cricket to kids aged eight, nine and 10 after the Milo In2Cricket clinics," said Paul Brockley, Cricket NSW's regional development manager Illawarra.

"T20 Blast is fun, everyone gets involved and gets to learn new skills and practice them."

Cricket is Australia's national sport but is battling to attract players at junior and senior level with T20 Blast the new, fresh approach to keep young players in the sport.

Illawarra Junior Cricket already runs a weekly T20 Blast competition on Friday afternoons. Details are available from the Cricket Illawarra website.

Since August, Brockley said more than 20 T20 Blast Gala Days had been held in the Illawarra, South Coast, Shoalhaven and Highlands.

Illawarra is to host the Sydney Sixers is a T20 game at North Dalton Park next Tuesday. The Sixers are using the match to prepare for the Big Bash comp.