England Set for Match Against Twenty20 Champs

The schedule for the Stanford Super Series was confirmed this morning, with six matches set to be played in as many days. As well as the much-discussed fixture between the Stanford Super Stars and England, there are a series of warm-up games involving Trinidad & Tobago, who are the current Stanford Twenty20 champions, and whichever side wins the current English Twenty20 Cup.

Kent, Essex, Durham and Middlesex are the four teams with a chance of winning the English Twenty20, and each side will have the extra incentive of playing games against the Super Stars, T&T and, most interestingly, England. It is not clear who would have priority over player selection for these games (T&T's fixture against the Super Stars presents the same problem). Ravi Bopara, for example, could conceivably be wanted by both Essex and England.

Equally interesting would be the prospect of the England team facing Steve Harmison, who has retired from international one-day cricket but continues to play Twenty20 for Durham.

ECB chief executive David Collier confirmed that the England players would not be receiving appearance fees for their winner-takes-all match against the Super Stars.

Collier also addressed the concerns over the mooted Twenty20 Champions League, and in particular the questions over whether Durham or Kent would be ineligible for the competition because the have players who appeared in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

Collier said he remains "confident" the Champions League will go ahead. The winning semi-finalists in this weekend's Twenty20 Cup finals day will be ensured qualification for the Champions League, which has a jackpot of £2.5m for the winners. "We've had discussions during the week," said Collier. "I think it's well known there are some differences about rules and regulations which still have to be ironed out."

The Stanford schedule:

October 25 - Stanford Super Stars v Trinidad and TobagoOctober 26 - England v Twenty20 Cup winnersOctober 27 - Trinidad and Tobago v Twenty20 Cup winnersOctober 28 - England v Trinidad and TobagoOctober 29 - Stanford Super Stars v Twenty20 Cup WinnersNovember 1 - Stanford Super Stars v England