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Gabba fans let in for free

The Gabba gates have been thrown open to allow a disgruntled record crowd storm into the ground and enjoy cricket's Twenty20 phenomenon.

Queensland Cricket and Gabba staff were taken by surprise at the huge interest in the Queensland-NSW clash and are braced for a massive backlash after thousands of patrons missed the start of the game.

Extra police had to be called in to provide more security to cope with the throng.

Only two gates admitted hot-tempered fans until 20 minutes before the scheduled start (1830 AEST, Qld time) when officials ordered all access points open and fans were let in for free.

Some attendants even led queues of people through exits to get them into the ground before the first over.

It didn't stop the crush as waves of supporters were then held up in bottlenecks as they attempted to make their way to seats.

With 11,000 tickets pre-sold for the bash-and-crash cricket match, QC expected a crowd of 14,000 but estimates put the attendance beyond 30,000.

QC chief executive Graham Dixon said the massive crowd was a sobering reminder of the popularity of the ultra-abbreviated game.

The crowd estimate is almost double the previous record for a domestic Twenty20 match.

Dixon defended pre-match planning and laid the bulk of the blame at the feet of fans who arrived at the ground just before play.

"The mistake is made by the patrons - you can't just turn up at six o'clock," Dixon said.

"That lesson just isn't getting learnt."

Dixon said all gates would be open in future Twenty20 matches and admitted there was no choice but to let fans in for free.

"It's only a three-hour game," he said. "They would have got in at half-time otherwise.

"At 6.10pm there were people everywhere."

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