Reprieve thrills Colly

It really is the start of a massive 12 month period for English cricket, we've got some important series coming up and this Stanford game is the start of it.

Paul Collingwood
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Paul Collingwood expressed his delight after it was confirmed the lucrative Stanford Series will go ahead as plannned.

The match between England and the Stanford Superstars in Antigua on November 1 - featuring a winner takes all prize of $20 million - had been in doubt due to a sponsorship dispute.

But that has now been resolved and Collingwood feels a victory in the one-off match would provide the perfect launchpad for England's challenging schedule during the next year.

"The players are delighted that it's going ahead," Collingwood told Sky Sports News.

"It really is the start of a massive 12 month period for English cricket, we've got some important series coming up and this Stanford game is the start of it."

Collingwood's team-mate Ian Bell was less effusive about the Stanford idea, insisting the squad was staying focused on next summer's Ashes rather than a cash windfall.

"It's an exciting game and there's a lot of money at stake but, as a team, we've consciously tried to make sure that the important thing for us as cricketers is winning the Ashes," said Bell.

"For us as a side it's not about money, it's about winning the Ashes - people will be remember that for a lot longer than a Stanford Twenty20 game."