I have just finished a heated debate with a colleague about the future of cricket.
He refuses to accept that Twenty20 is an exciting, innovative game that has captured the imagination of the future of cricket - the youngsters.
Instead, he is adamant that Test cricket is still the way ahead - but admits that he would not want to go and watch a Test match because it isn't lively enough for him.
Say no more.

His fear, apparently, is that Twenty20 will replace Test matches as the main cricket in the country. And the problem here is?

Test cricket develops players in many different ways and will always be a key part in this sport. However, it is hardly something revelutionary and is hard to see quite how it can continue to be taken any further forward. Having said that, Test matches will always be virtual sell-outs because of the amount of them that take place.

But Twenty20 is a bright new concept that makes millions, has the potential to make even more, and has all the youngsters wanting to watch and play cricket. What better way than getting them interested in the sport by taking them to watch an exciting match from start to finish that will be over inside 3 hours.

Money rules, and if Twenty20 is the most marketable aspect of cricket, it should be endorsed as much as possible to ensure finance is being fired into the game.

Which would you rather watch . . .



ps. I was going to write that the irony of it all is that my colleague is a Division 9 OCA player, whose batting relies on hoiking across the line and playing anything but proper cricket shots - so I was sure he'd favour Twenty20....but he didn't want me to say that!!