England's £10million showdown against West Indies All-Stars gets go-ahead

Talks between the American billionaire and ECB officials this week have resulted in the surprise decision to stage the match not during England's Caribbean tour next year but as part of the Antiguan independence celebrations this autumn.

It means England will travel to Stanford's purpose-built ground in Antigua immediately ahead of their tour of India, which is due to start on November 5.

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Even though ECB chairman Giles Clarke said on Thursday that it is "very likely" the match will take place on a date to be arranged, Sportsmail can confirm that it is set for November 1 and that, even though the prize for the winners will be £10m, there will also be healthy appearance fees for the England players and ECB.

"It's amazing how things are going," said Paul Collingwood, England's one-day captain, at the launch of England's five-year kit sponsorship deal with adidas at Lord's.

"The selection policy will be interesting for that game! The IPL is available to everyone but, with this, only 11 players would be on the park and able to cash in, which might be a bit unfair."

Collingwood became the latest top England player, after Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan, to express his wish to be allowed to take part in future IPL competitions.

"Hopefully it will not get to the point where players have to make a choice between England and the IPL," he said. "When this sort of money is bandied around, it is inevitable that players are tempted."

His views were echoed by Pietersen, who has turned down offers approaching £2million for three-years' involvement in the IPL. "I don't think there is anything wrong in any of us wanting to go and earn that sort of figure," he said. "We have to look after stuff like this because we are not going to be playing when we're 50."

The impressive new adidas Test, one-day and Twenty20 kits, which were modelled by England players in the Long Room at Lord's, are made of the most modern sweat resistant fabrics and signal the end of the old cable knit jumpers which are being replaced by fleece-like garments.

But, by revealing that the one-day and Twenty20 shirts are to be changed annually, adidas laid themselves open to criticism.

With shirts costing around £45, it will be expensive for parents to keep up with the latest designs for their children's replica shirts.