Sydney, Apr 29 (IANS): Australia's Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke Thursday called Twenty20 as important as Test cricket and has asked Cricket Australia (CA) to include Twenty20 specialists like batsmen David Warner and David Hussey in their contract system.

"It's the same - it's exactly the same," Clarke was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph as Australia prepares for the World Twenty20, beginning Friday, in the Caribbean.

"For me, it's as serious as a one-day match or a Test match."

"There are blokes in this squad who haven't played Test cricket. They haven't played one-day cricket. It's the ultimate for them."

"It's become exactly the same as one-day and Test cricket. It's a form of the game that we want to be the best in the world at. We're not there yet, we're improving, but this is a way for us to start."

Clarke's remarks are not likely to go well with the purists but he believes it has a growing relevance among the players.

"There's no such thing as a game of hit and giggle," he said. "That's something that has changed. It used to be about putting on a show, entertaining the crowd."

"But from a player point of view, that is no longer the case."

Clarke revealed he had approached CA executives about changing its contract.

"I've told Cricket Australia that they should have contracts," he said. "I think there should be a Twenty20 contract introduced."

"I know once you play a certain number of Twenty20 games, you can get upgraded to a Cricket Australia contract."

"But players like David Warner and David Hussey ... they're here playing in a Twenty20 World Cup. They should be paid (under contract) for that."