McGrath hopes Twenty20 stays as third format

Glenn McGrath has started some light training for his stint playing Twenty20 matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year. However, McGrath said he did not want the shortest form of the game to eat away at the Test and ODI schedules in world cricket.

"Hopefully there is room for all three forms of the game but we'll wait and see," McGrath told AAP. "I think in India anything to do with cricket is going to be successful. The effect it will have on Test cricket or one-day cricket, hopefully it won't be negative.

"It has got the potential in the same way one-day cricket has been to Test cricket, run-rates are a lot higher. But I guess it also has the potential if it gets too big and starts going to markets like the US and Europe and other places, I would hate to see it take the spot of Test cricket and one-day cricket."

McGrath was pleased to be able to play a role in developing cricket's following and he was looking forward to playing with or against other international stars in the IPL. "To have players like myself and Shane Warne and Stephen Fleming, it's more of an ambassador role to give it a bit more credibility," he said.

"People coming to watch the game are probably not your mainstream cricket fans so it's bringing more people to the game which is great." McGrath, Warne and Fleming will be part of a pool of players who can be signed up by privately-owned franchise teams in the IPL, which is scheduled to have its first tournament in April next year.