Cricket: Mass appeal of Twenty20

It is the third coming of cricket - Twenty20. When Australia meets New Zealand in the opening match of its six-week tour in a Twenty20 international at Eden Park, it will complete the transformation of whiteboard idea to international sport.

But the ramifications of Twenty20 are far greater than a one-off international. If it hasn't revolutionised the sport in England, then at the least it has made it cool to love cricket again.

It has sold out Lord's. In Australia it recently sold out the WACA.

In South Africa crowds for domestic cricket have risen four-fold with the introduction of the quick-fire game.

When its creator, Stuart Robertson, dryly described it as "the application of basic marketing techniques to cricket", you wondered whether he wasn't intimidated by the monster he created.

Kerry Packer, as owner of Australia's cricket broadcasting rights holder Channel Nine, is investigating Twenty20 as a way to revive viewing figures. It has been suggested the ICC might look to adopt the game for its faltering Champions Trophy.

The push for Twenty20 comes at a time when it is acknowledged that 50-over one-dayers are becoming stale.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden told the Herald on Sunday his board was three months into a wide-ranging investigation as to the merits of Twenty20, but at this stage did not think it would be introduced into the domestic programme next year.

Snedden's said the concept could be more useful at grassroots level, enticing young people, particularly female, into the game and bringing back older players who can't spare the time for traditional cricket.

"We'd be reluctant to introduce it [at domestic level] next year," Snedden said. "There's no point in introducing it unless it's a standard part of cricket worldwide."

Heath Mills, New Zealand Players' Association manager, was also cautious. He said if it was introduced on the domestic calendar it needed to be a "self-sustaining model and not a drain on existing resources".

He did acknowledge that the crowd engagement was a positive that needed to be embraced.

"In England we've seen that happen but the ECB spent an enormous amount of money on marketing and getting people to the grounds. The sort of money I don't think we could spend.

"While it looks great at the moment, we'd like to see how it goes over the next few years."

Cricket is a noble game based on noble traditions but there is an acknowledgement it needs to move with the times.

Twenty20, which could be described, loosely, as one-day cricket without the boring bits in the middle, could be the answer in cash-rich, time-poor societies.

"The Twenty20 cup was a shot in the arm for cricket in this country ... it's taken very seriously by all the counties," said Kent captain David Fulton in a recent interview with magazine allout Cricket.

In the first season in England, it attracted more than a quarter of a million through the turnstiles.

Last year South Africa introduced the concept with overwhelming success. The competition quadrupled crowds of the traditional one-day competition, with 145,000 paying spectators over 16 games - that's 9000 per match, figures South Africa hadn't seen since night cricket was introduced in the mid-80s.

After three trial games Cricket Australia has confirmed that the State sides will contest a Twenty20 competition in January 2006.

Robertson, the game's creator, has warned that cricket condensed could be the way of the future with one-day matches reduced from 50 to 40 overs and tests played over three days.