Twenty20 cricket could be heading to Bath next year after Somerset staged a hugely successful trial game on the new Rec wicket on Monday.

The match between a Lord's Taverners side, led by ex-England seamer Andy Caddick, and a Somerset XI took place on a strip between the spot where the East Stand is positioned during the rugby season and the eastern touchline of the rugby pitch.

Staging a Twenty20 match there would allow the county side to accommodate spectators in the West and Hampton stands and the popularity of the shortest form of the game could attract crowds of 10,000 to the city centre venue.

Somerset chief executive Richard Gould said: "It was better than we anticipated and it was a good exercise because we have learned things we have to do but I think there is a realistic possibility of sending a Twenty20 match to Bath at some stage.

"Next year is very feasible. We need to look at the fixture list when it comes in October and see if we can identify a game that would suit."

Gould added that such a fixture is likely to replace – rather than supplement – the annual Bath Cricket Festival match, which has been a one-day affair since 2007.

He said: "I would struggle to take a 40-over and a 20-over game there because we are Taunton-centric – we have got a lot of members and supporters from that area.

"But I think if you were to get a Twenty20 home game against Surrey or Hampshire, or Worcester or Glamorgan then you could do a very, very good crowd there.

"If we get more than 3,000 for a 40-over game we could double it or treble it for a 20-over game.

"This year we had three games in six days at Taunton and that is too much, so hopefully that will get evened out. If we could put the middle one in Bath that would be really useful."

Gould played in the match at The Rec, which saw a Lord's Taverners side fortified by the likes of ex-England duo Richard Ellison and Neil Smith, Gloucestershire's Steve Kirby, former Bath Rugby star Matt Perry, Wisden editor Scyld Berry and Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale.

And the contest ended in a convenient tie when Kirby hit Max Waller for six off the final ball.

The Real Friends of the Rec – the pressure group set up to campaign for a new multi-sports stadium – have been a major driving force behind the creation of the new wicket and its chairman, Peter Downey, was enthused by Monday's events.

Downey said: "Nobody believed us when we said it could be done but [Bath Rugby groundsman] Darren Ball and the Somerset groundstaff have done a phenomenal job.

"You wouldn't have thought that just a couple of months ago there was this awful, ploughed area under the East Stand.

"It would be sensational to hold Twenty20 cricket there. We are always looking at ways The Rec could be redeveloped in a way that is satisfactory to the rugby club and other sports and instead of having just the 17 or so rugby matches a year there we could have a number of cricket matches too.

"I can see people getting a lot from it. Not only might we see more of Somerset CCC in Bath – just like the old days – but all sorts of cricket from the grass-roots upwards would also benefit greatly. It would act as a real injection for Bath cricket and sport in general.

"It's something we've campaigned and prayed for and this is a step in the right direction.

He added: "On Monday there was not only cricket going on but football, two touch rugby games and tennis.

"It was wonderful to see The Rec being used for all sports."