England have gone. When will Middlesex?

Middlesex County Cricket Club have taken a similar stance to the ECB by not forcing any of it’s cricketers to travel to Mumbai for the inaugural Champions League Twenty 20.

Following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the competition was due to start on 3^rd December following a previous postponement in September, but along with England’s test series in India, everything has been put in jeopardy.

It seems that the decisions which are made by the Middlesex management and players are likely to mirror those made by their England counterparts.

Middlesex batsman Tom Nicoll has toured in Mumbai with school and County Academy sides: “the atmosphere is really friendly. It is important to differentiate between politics and the local people.”

However the politics holding back the tournament are primarily those within cricket. The Australian Cricket Board have already barred Essex from competing in the tournament due to their players competing in the rival competition, the Indian Premier League.

It is Nicoll’s generation that could be the key to success for Middlesex when this competition finally does take place. Players from his age group in the academy – Jack London and Billy Godleman were both on the field when their County clinched the Twenty20 Cup at the Rose Bowl in July.

“I have had a chat with Billy, and he was really looking forward to returning to Mumbai and still is. Neither he nor myself are really in a position to talk about what the County should do, but obviously we both want to be a part of it.”

However when Middlesex’s youngsters do eventually arrive in India they will be in for a culture shock: “The trains are worse than the tube and I have eaten curry three meals a day.” said the youngster.

That will not be the worst of their troubles however. Victoria, the Australian champions three years running will have a team containing the likes of heavy hitters Adrian Blizzard and Shaun Marsh.

Hopefully from Middlesex’s view point Owais Shah, Andrew Strauss and Alan Richardson will have already acclimatised as they are with an England contingent in Abu Dhabi.

Richardson in particular has been made part of a development squad and was in part selected due to the easiness of his visa application; he already possessed one needed for Middlesex’s tour.