Ashes or $1m - Collingwood Can't Decide

Would Paul Collingwood prefer to win the Ashes next summer or the Stanford Twenty20 Challenge in Antigua, which would immediately make him $1m richer? He was candid enough to tell it as it is. "I can't honestly say,'' he admitted.

England's $20m match against the Stanford All Stars in November, the first of five annual winner-takes-all matches, has thrown the game out of kilter. Collingwood, England's one-day captain, should be congratulated, not condemned, for his brave admission that there is no logic anymore.

"That is what is scary about the whole situation," Collingwood said. "It is not the World Cup, not the Ashes, not what you dream about as a kid. It is just about money. None of us have been in this position before. Somehow you have to get Test cricket as lucrative as this because the maths don't really add up at the moment. The ICC really has to nail this down, but it is going to be nigh-on impossible to do that."

No sport can afford to shun billionaire philanthropists with basically good intentions – and both West Indies cricket and English cricket will benefit from Sir Allen Stanford's largesse - but neither can any sport afford to ignore the potential dislocation that Stanford Twenty20 will bring.

It will take a cricketer with deep respect for the game's traditions and values to recognize that Test cricket must remain sacrosanct; it will take a cricketer of formidable integrity always to play unselfishly for the sake of the team rather than protect their own place; and it will take a cricketer of immense fair-mindedness to accept without complaint a decision to drop them for the Stanford Twenty20 and remove their chance of $1m at a stroke. Angus Fraser was recalling today that he was once dropped by England because of "a gut feeling". Explanations may have to be a little more detailed than that.

Collingwood is no fly-by-night cricketer, but a man repeatedly praised for his dedication. He at least has the decency to admit to being confused and to wonder where it will all end. "In many ways it is a bit uncomfortable," he said. "It is exciting and it has a lot of positives. From a youngster's point of view, I am sure the participation in sport will grow.

"But I grew up wanting to win the Ashes and the World Cup. Nothing could come close to that. It took everybody's imagination. It was compelling. You can't lose Test cricket. I don't think it is a problem in England, where Test cricket is still loved, but it is a problem in places like India and Pakistan.

"It is scary to think that people might grow up just wanting to play Twenty20 cricket. When they can get big money for a one-off game or be away from home for four months for an Ashes series for much less money there is no question which they are going to go for.

"I still think there is enough pride in Test cricket for players to want to succeed. In my generation that is the thing we grew up to play. Now it is the next generation. We have to give them the incentive to continue to play Test cricket."

Friday's sell-out NatWest International Twenty20 between England and New Zealand, to be followed by five ODIs, suddenly seems a little prosaic. NatWest, one of cricket's loyalist sponsors, have put up – don't gasp - £7,000 for the winners and, in view of the credit crunch, they are lucky to get that.

Twenty20 internationals have moved on at a frightening pace since Kevin Pietersen lightly dismissed a batting error as "silly shots for silly games". "We only have three warm-up games leading up to the Stanford match and I am sure that everybody wants a spot," Collingwood said. "What we want is for everybody to play well for England. I don't think it will affect our team spirit, and you would hope that everyone will be honest with themselves. We all have roles to play and hopefully everyone will stick to those roles and go about it as if the money wasn't there. If somebody was selfish it would be very hard to spot it."