DUBAI, July 22: West Indies skipper Brian Lara said he is not fascinated by the twenty20 version of cricket because it does not test the ability of a player but agrees the new format has spectator value.

Test cricket is my game. It is a game I really love to play. Before being asked to captain the team for the third time, I tried to guide my career in the direction of playing more Test cricket and less one-day games,” Lara, the leading scorer in Tests, said.

I don't think it (Twenty20) tests the ability of players like Tests do. But it is good for the crowd. You are playing a sport, and sport is all about spectators,” Lara was quoted as saying in a daily newspaper.

Lara, who is in Dubai to appear on the Chevrolet Cricket Show while the Stanford Twenty20 Tournament is underway in West Indies, also said “it is necessary to produce results in Tests to keep interest in the game alive”.

On the burn-out issue, he said it might be true for big cricketing nations but he had no problem with WICB's itinerary.

It may be true in the case of big cricketing nations. They are playing between themselves more often. A lot of factors are involved in it, like crowd, big money, television rights. I am fine with the sort of itinerary and fixtures we have,” he said.—Agencies