Cricket: Tests still king despite growth of Twenty20

Black Caps all-rounder James Franklin rubbishes suggestions the smash and crash nature of Twenty20 could one day rule cricket, surpassing test matches.

The superstars of the sport are in England for the second edition of the World Twenty20 Championship with New Zealand opening their campaign against minnows Scotland last night.

New Zealand play South Africa in their final group match at Lord's on Wednesday. And it was at this most appropriate venue, the home of cricket, that Franklin said he felt test cricket would survive.

The advent of the Indian Premier League and rival competitions has meant Twenty20 is now a growing beast for the International Cricket Council, but the tall Wellingtonian is not buying into theories about the demise of the famous 'white clothing and red cherry' version of the game.

"Test cricket is the real heart of the game. It's where you can really measure yourself against the greats of years gone by," Franklin said.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle ruffled the feathers of purists in declaring his love for Twenty20 and saying he "wouldn't be so sad" if test cricket died out.

Franklin will not be joining that school of thought any time soon.

"I'm sure if you ask the majority of international cricketers around the world, they'll still probably say test cricket is the true measure of the game and where they really want to do well.

"Personally, I'd be disappointed if there weren't as many [test matches]. Test cricket is a true test and for New Zealand, we don't play a hell of a lot of test cricket compared to other nations so if we can play more, that would be great", Franklin said.

While Franklin's first passion appears to be test cricket, he would not pass up a lucrative IPL contract.

"There is just going to be more of it [Twenty20] because I think the crowd really enjoy it and the players enjoy it too. We've seen the phenomenon of Twenty20 over the past couple of years with the take-off of the IPL, and it's going to get bigger and bigger."