Twenty20 cricket is more than just entertainment

This. You absolutely nailed it.

Spot on Brett

Another A+ comment showing up the others.

Great comment Michael. This single comment exposes all the silly comments around it. Test Purists can whinge all they like but T20 is only getting bigger and all you can do is cry yourselves to sleep.

They haven't watched any BBL because they keep telling us how much they hate it and how they never watch it. Yet having never watched it they seem to be experts on what is wrong with it. Hence why they are so negative all the time. Uninformed opinions are always negative.

My favourite thing to do is still sitting and watching a day of test match cricket. There is no doubt those who know and understand cricket appreciate test cricket as the most skilled and toughest form of cricket. All I'm saying is the Big Bash is bringing new fans to the game. It's an entry point for those you call 'idiots who can't follow cricket". T20 is not killing test cricket, its actually going to help it grow. Like I said I know numerous people who were never cricket fans who were introduced via T20 and now love test cricket as well. We can put our heads in the sand and eventually test cricket will die or we can see T20 for what it is, great entertainment that is going to bring more fans to the game.

I also find it odd regarding those stating the formulaic nature of the results. With low scores being easily run down or teams cracking under the pressure of chasing 180+. I wonder how much BBL these guys have seen as I've seen both low scores being defended successfully and scores of 180+ being run down.

Bang on Brett. I find it interesting that many only cite the 'slogging' side of the BBL while completely overlooking the fact that while they may make it look easy it actually takes a lot of skill to pull off. That's not even taking into account all the new 'trick shots' that are being developed.

Really good piece Nathan, and I'm in complete agreement. I've written before and have been saying for some time that for whatever you think of the colours and atmosphere and the over-marketed feeling about the BBL and T20 in general, if you can allow yourself to look past that, you will be treated to a really good contest of bat v ball. The skills on show in T20 are there from ball one, and it's quite extraordinary to see what these guys can do..

My two cents on the lack of attachment issue is that the competition only runs for that brief period of time. That, plus if you're watching at home you aren't even put in a position of "choosing" a game to watch because there are no overlaps. Its still a relatively new format and I'd think fanaticism would grow over time, but it doesn't have the all-in investment requirement of, say, AFL football or A-League soccer. And I completely agree on the international side of things. Make it a domestic league first and foremost and ditch the international side of things all together. International short form cricket should be ODIs, plain and simple.

I think you should give it a chance. T20 is a lot different than it was pre-Big Bash.

I looooove the BBL. So much that I will be writing about it this year! I'm really excited. The compressed nature of the game makes it really unpredictable from the outset, and if you take some liberties with how you pitch bat versus ball, its amongst the most even contests cricket throws up nowadays.

I'm no old timer. I'm a early 20's Uni student and should be part of this short attention span generation that supposedly hates test cricket and laps this crap up. I'd say this next generation crap is overstated, 15-25 year olds that I know are far more interested in a big test series than they ever are over the BBL. They just watch it on TV because there is literally nothing else on. 6 year olds might like it but 6 years olds like anything with loud noises and big lights. This is not the game for the young generation, it's the game for idiots who can't follow cricket.

I'm always amazed by how many thought this. Spinners have always liked batsmen going after them as it provided a good opportunity for a wicket, because the batsman had to do all the work. I watched Brad Hogg get smashed for two sixes in a row in a ODI, and after each shot he just looked at the batsmen with a little smile on his face. Third ball, wicket. It made sense that this would work in T20 too.

Sorry to disappoint you, but T20 is as serious as it can get right now, there is nothing more. If you want serious then you need one dayers, and more importantly, tests.

I gather all the grumblebums and curmudgeons didn't watch last year's final, then ? Very seldom you get a nailbiter like that in any form of any sport. If you don't go, don't watch or don't approve, hey that's fine. But as a means of channelling new interest in the basics of the sport, and for a fun evening's entertainment, the BBL is tearing it up. You should at least acknowledge that it is pumping plenty of interest, no matter how casual, into cricket where previously there was none between the summer tests. And last season the celebrity d1ckhead from each game had vanished without trace, and without once being mentioned...

Agree on the merch side of things - based on my own anecdotal experience up here, you do see an awful lot of Brisbane Heat gear worn in public, definitely running second only to the ubiquitous Broncos jersey. There's certainly plenty of awareness around these sides now, and the games are very well attended, particularly for Brisbane where it's a struggle to get crowds along to anything.

I haven't watched a game of 20 over cricket for a number of years and haven't regretted it. To me it's way too predictable, with 9 out of every 10 games needing the team batting first to make between 130-180 to have a genuine contest. Make less than 130 and usually it's not defensible, make more than 180 and the chasing team generally takes too many risks, get themselves in a hole and lose by plenty. It has a place in the calendar, that's without question, but to me the formulaic nature of the matches is a turn off.

I am really looking forward to the new BBL season. I really enjoy it and hate it when people moan about it not being Cricket. These are probably the same kind of people who would have been whinging about the advent of the ODI format back in the, what 70s? I look at T20 not only as a legitimate format but one that Cricket needs not only to recapture the attention of its traditional nations and those inclined to follow the game within those nations but capture the attention of those who may have been lost or not interested to begin with. It also offers the perfect vehicle for the game to grow into new nations (if the ICC ever pull their heads out of their you know what's). I grew up on Test Cricket. Still love it but can absolutely understand why it doesn't appeal like it once did. It's too narrow in terms of competition and yes, unless you're raised watching it, it's just too drawn out. Unfortunately, I cannot see this improving. In fact, its likely to continue to contract until there really are only the 'Big 4' in Australia, England, India and South Africa left. T20 allows the game to reach out to new audiences. The Lebanese family who run my local Chicken shop never gave Cricket a look in until the BBL and now I've walked past and heard them discussing the previous nights games not only with customers but among themselves. That says something. I find it odd that people are suggesting that people aren't forming attachments to the teams. Perhaps that's accurate in regards to adults but not with kids. I have noted a sharp increase in the number of kids wearing either 6ers or Thunder gear in my area over the last 3-5 years and it has been significant. That's who the BBL franchises are targeting. Kids who will attach themselves to a franchise and grow with it. Too many people look at the BBL in the now without considering any long term strategy in its conception. Personally, I'd like to see it grow in terms of schedule with perhaps a Canberran side entered and a h/a format introduced. It doesn't have to expand its timeframe all that much to achieve this. The more Cricket the better in my opinion. Oh, and something CA should really look at is the Matador Cup. Of the 3 formats the ODI format really hasn't had a great deal of appeal from my end in the last decade or so. Mainly due to it being over done at the international level. But, I really enjoyed the Matador Cup and it needs a greater level of promotion. I really liked the fact that all the best Australian talent was competing and that's how it should be. No tests or meaningless ODI's during that window. One thing I will say about T20 is I hate it being used as a international format. Okay, a WC every 4 years is acceptable but that should be it. It should be an exclusively domestic league format. I think that's it strength and it needs to build on that. Same for the ODI format. It needs a break from the international scene and would more likely thrive as a well promoted domestic package. The truly international form of Cricket played regularly is the Test format.