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KEY POINTS:
If you view Twenty20 as the racy flirt who's moved in down the street scandalising the straight-laced neighbours but due her comeuppance soon, think again.
The purists who still wrinkle their noses at the one-day game and can't work out the fuss over the new whizzbang version of
the game are in for an uncomfortable future.
Get used to Twenty20 becoming a regular fixture on the annual calendar. By all accounts, the most fun to be had in international cricket last year was in South Africa in September, where India won the inaugural world Twenty20 title after a riproaring couple of weeks.
Compare that with the 46-day World Cup Caribbean snorefest organised by the International Cricket Council in April.
Just as one-day cricket drew new fans to the game more than 30 years ago, so now does Twenty20, which appeals to people who fancy a quick thrill rather than a day's outing. Think a bungy jump to a day at the beach.
Expect the bumper crowd at Eden Park tonight - and in Christchurch on Thursday - to include a decent chunk of people who wouldn't go near a test, and would think twice about spending seven hours at an ODI.
The profile of the fan is expanding, even as attendances shrink. Tests draw good crowds in England, India and Australia.
Elsewhere, you'll find banks of empty seats. Fire a shot into the stands and you're unlikely to hit flesh.
Twenty20 is cricket's moneyspinner, so expect the game to milk it pitilessly.
Talk to players and you'll hear they like the game but hope it doesn't move up the pecking order in terms of priorities. The ICC has put a cap on the number of games each country can play - and host - each year. That's smart. They should learn from the fact ODIs have long lost their early appeal. But don't expect it to last once cricket's beancounters do their sums.
This week's activities are an aperitif to more substantial contests to come. But those anticipating a crude bash tonight may be surprised.
When Ricky Ponting marked New Zealand's first Twenty20 match at Eden Park three years ago with a spanking 98 in 55 balls it was done with classic cricket strokes. You could have parked a couch out at slog corner and not had to move as Ponting took New Zealand apart with the same style he uses in tests, albeit with more urgency.
The good batsmen have figured it out. Runs can be got smartly with traditional methods. So maybe, amid all the razzmatazz, there is something for the purists after all.