Gidman has scored almost 500 runs in Twenty20 cricket

Gloucestershire all-rounder Alex Gidman believes the impact of Twenty20 cricket could come at a heavy price.

The two finalists in this year's domestic Twenty20 Cup will join teams from Australia, India and South Africa, with the winners getting �2.5m.

"I'm a little bit worried about what the future holds," Gidman told BBC Radio Bristol.

"I really hope that four-day cricket doesn't get affected by Twenty20 cricket, but I fear it will do."

Leading figures like England captain Michael Vaughan and Somerset skipper Justin Langer have expressed concerns that Twenty20 cricket could have a detrimental affect on Test cricket and the four-day game, and Gidman shares those fears.

"Test cricket's never going to go away, lets be honest about that. If we want a successful Test team, we've got to make sure that County Cricket and the tradition of it is still there in abundance, it's absolutely vital.

We're only human and we want as much money as you can make in your careers. Obviously it's in the back of our minds Gloucestershire all-rounder Alex Gidman

"I have a horrible feeling that it will get affected at some stage, because Twenty20 cricket isn't going to go away either. For me it's important that four-day cricket is the real nuts of English cricket, and the Twenty20 is there as well.

"For me, and I think deep down for every cricketer, four-day cricket is what you really want to test yourself on. Those are the stats I'll look back at the end of my career and judge myself on. However, when there's your well-being at stake, you want to do as well as you can so it's a balance."

Gloucestershire launch their Twenty20 campaign on Thursday at New Road, with a game against Worcestershire, and Gidman admits the vast amounts of money being thrown into the competition adds some spice to their campaign.

"We try and win every game of cricket we play in, so it doesn't really make that much of a difference to us specifically. However I guess there's a little bit more of an incentive there that wasn't there a week ago.

"We're only human and we want as much money as you can make in your careers and we're no different, so it's obviously in the back of our minds."