There is a common perception that T20 cricket should be, and is, more appealing to the younger generation brought up as internet natives and computer-game addicts. As someone born at the beginning of Generation Y, in 1980, I can safely say that it is not the case – not for me, anyway. To me, it's nothing to do with Gen Y's supposed short attention span that has drawn new fans to the Twenty20 game at the expense of ODIs and Test cricket, but simply the fact there is an increasingly congested sporting market.

The proliferation of pay TV with multiple sports channels, along with Channel Ten's bold move in using their spare digital licence to run the ONE HD channel dedicated to sport, has given many sports fans access to the full gamut of global sports. It is possible for anyone, anywhere in Australia to now follow religiously anything from the NBA to Serie A, all live and beamed into their living rooms.

This unprecedented access to the global sporting market has given administrators the impression that their own sport is competing against others. Much has been written and said about the growing popularity of soccer in Australia and whether or not this is a threat to the survival of AFL, and many believe it has provided at least a part of the motivation for the AFL's expansion into the Gold Coast and western Sydney.

Many older Australians that I know take a dim view of soccer. Failed World Cup campaigns and the inaccessible, nationalised clubs of the now defunct NSL did nothing to enamour them to the code. The creation of the A-League, along with the Socceroos qualifying for consecutive World Cup finals and playing regularly in Asia, has changed this for people growing up today. The fact that I follow soccer from both here and abroad has not dulled my interest in the AFL whatsoever, and the same can be said for most of my friends, including those whose parents were born in soccer-loving nations. The reason is that the two games have different things to offer, both on the field and at a cultural level.

This is what cricket's administrators need to be mindful of when assessing the shift in popularity within their own sport. Having three formats of the same sport can only work if they are offering something different from one another, otherwise it would be pointless. To me it seems that domestic T20 is offering a lot to fans in terms of entertainment, along with the chance to follow their team through into the Champions League in India should they prove successful.

This provides more depth in interest than the head-to-head ODI series that are played for comparatively small money and trophies that do not hold any meaningful status in the minds of the public. Test cricket's long-standing traditions and swag of meaningful trophies offers something else for fans and, scanning the crowd every year on Boxing Day, I see people from all ages in all parts of the ground.

Ideally, the appeal of T20 to young fans will enhance the popularity of Test cricket by bringing new fans to the game who then get interested in the psychological warfare of the five-day contest.

What I can not see happening is those new fans getting excited about the slightly longer, slightly slower and ultimately less-exciting version of the game that are ODIs. It does not seem sustainable for a sport to compete against itself - with almost the same product - in the modern sporting market.

(John Trethewie is a budding journalist)