The Australian domestic Twenty20 competition is about to start. Cricket Australia was quite slow to embrace the newest form of the game and almost grudgingly introduced it last year. It proved to be a success and this year's competition is an expanded one.

Each State is playing three games with the top two teams contesting the finals. There is no doubt that Twenty20 has made something of a splash but does it have a long-term future? For once, the ICC haven't been slow to act and have announced there will be a Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September 2007. If only they were this quick in sorting out more integral problems affecting the game.

The purists have reservations in their feelings on the game which is fair enough since Twenty20 isn't aimed at them. The game has a good following in England but that is most likely due to it being the first exposure of most of the crowd to cricket. But how many of them are going to be comfortable adjusting from the smash-and-grab game where 500 runs are scored in 40 overs to a day of Test cricket where 270 are scored in 90 overs? It's certainly no end of fun watching Shahid Afridi and Andrew Symonds tonking the ball all round the park, but Symonds may consider he has more of a future as a Test batsman after his heroics in Melbourne.

Limited overs cricket is very hit and miss. If the side batting second collapses early, then the last 35 overs of their innings can be like watching paint dry. In Twenty20 cricket, the side batting second is even more prone to big collapses; the only saving grace is that there are far fewer overs to sit through.

Fans would expect the whole Twenty20 innings to be like the last 10 of a 50-over match. If you don't see a boundary every ball you are disappointed and a dot ball is heresy. On the whole Twenty20 is a bit of fun but it shouldn't be seen as anything more than that.

What are your thoughts on Twenty20 cricket? Is it here to stay or just a passing fad? Send us your comments