Kirsten against too many Twenty20 internationals

I have always had a view that it is a great domestic product, Kirsten on Wednesday said. Maybe you can look at the platform soccer works off,where they play mainly domestic soccer through the year and then they have a major tournament at a country level,maybe thats what T20 can do.

I think international cricket does really well with Test cricket and the 50-over format of the game and I feel T20 will dilute those products a little bit. I think it (T20) is a great product,there are going to be teething problems as we go along as its a new product to world viewership and world sporting entertainment,but its done remarkably well over a short period of time, he added.

T20 has been a big hit since its conception in 2003 but attempting to find space for it in an already crowded international calendar has proved difficult. Kirsten believes something has to give.

The Future Tours Programme doesnt allow for that much T20,they are trying to fit them in schedules and trying to find a space for them here or there,he said.

Kirsten said the International Cricket Councils only alternative would be to play more T20 at the expense of the 50-over game.

You cant extend tours longer than six weeks and that has been an almost unwritten thing now that they want to keep tours as short as possible, he said.

The Indian Premier League is the most successful domestic T20 tournament and Kirsten believes its success demonstrates his point that T20 is a great domestic product.

I know Australia are trying that now (creating a domestic T20 league),England are trying that,South Africa have their own T20 thing and there is great interest in it and it brings crowds to the game in the domestic format that other forms of the game dont. There is very little support for domestic four-day cricket and domestic 50-over cricket,so I think its great for the local game, said Kirsten.