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Twenty20 is an absolute revelation for the world of cricket.

It has appeal to a wider spectrum of people, I know people who aren't cricket fans but love the party atmosphere that Twenty20 creates. I think that the shortened version of the game also quite a dangerous thing as well.

In England, the county scene is absolutely saturated with fixtures (County Championship, Pro 40, C&G Trophy and Twenty20 games). Not only is it tough on the players to be playing 5 or 6 days a week, it's also extremely difficult to adjust between the rather sedate scoring of the Championship games and the slog-fest that Twenty20 has become. I have played 20 and 24 over games myself and the mindset of attacking is difficult to adjust to after playing over 3 or 4 days. It is slowly having an effect on the English game.

We are now seeing players like Luke Wright of Sussex becoming a 'Twenty20 specialist', that can't honestly be good for someone of Wright's age. It is also further proof that cricket is moving closer to football, where we are searching for the next youngster that we can thrust into an unnecessary spotlight.

The financial implications of Twenty20 are the only thing that the counties actually embraces, more bums on seats means more money for them. And, let's face it, after New Road was flooded last summer, you can see how much it cost Worcestershire to miss out on 4 games of Twenty20. I would hate to see this exciting version of the game become a purely revenue-based decision to keep it on the schedule.

I would love to see fixture lists to incorporate some Twenty20 games at international level. Can you imagine Australia and England at the MCG playing Twenty20? That would be absolutely incredible.

Twenty20 is a good thing for entertainment seekers and a bad thing for the cricket purists. If this is the only way to keep cricket thriving then I have no problems with this game but I would hate to see Test matches sacrificed to create more space for Twenty20.

Learn more about this author, Stephen Culley.
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