 There is a chance that Yuvraj Singh may play for Middlesex in the forthcoming
domestic T20 tournament in England. All the counties in England are allowed two
overseas cricketers in their side and the Middlesex had already signed up Adam Gilchrist for this season for the tournament.
Angus Fraser, Middlesex's director of cricket, said, "We have been in
talks with Yuvraj about the possibility of him playing Twenty20 cricket this
summer."
Unfortunately, the issue with this signing up is the international schedule
that the Indians have yet to announce. The T20 Cup, as it is called in England,
will be played from July 1 to 18, whereas the BCCI may announce a tri-series
involving India, Sri Lanka and a third team - probably New Zealand -.
This could scupper the plans of having any Indian international for the side.
The deal is partly sponsored by the MCC, while the part-payment will be done
by the county itself.
Middlesex had won the Twenty Cup in 2008, to be eligible to play in the Stanford
Super Series in October and November that year. However, in the following year
in 2009, they had even failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the event.
With the prestigious Champions League T20 at stake, the qualifications for the
final of the Twenty20 would be something that all the counties would be looking
at.
Middlesex had also had a discussion with Sachin Tendulkar for the same
but had not been able to sign up with him. This was because Sachin Tendulkar
had cited the excessive workload at the international level as the reason. The
fans around the world, and especially in London had hoped that Tendulkar would
join Gilchrist as the second signing for the tournament. However, that had not
happened.
The Middlesex County Club's chief executive, Vinny Codrington had said,
"Sachin was very open and honest with us when advising us of his decision
and he went to lengths to express how flattered he was that a club like Middlesex
were so keen to have him on board." He also added that Tendulkar had felt
that with the number of ODIs and Tests, the workload would have increased drastically
had he played in the county circuit and would have been bad for his longevity.
The BCCI may also announce that the Champions League T20 may be advanced
by a month to accommodate the India-Australia series. This could mean that the
English counties may not play in the tournament next year!
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