Middlesex will head for the Champions League in India at the end of next month to start hunting for a £2million first prize, provided the event is given a stamp of approval from the International Cricket Council.

England's Twenty20 Cup winners, led by Ed Joyce, have received their invitation to join seven other teams - two each from India, Australia and South Africa, plus one from Pakistan - in the 10-day tournament. They will only go, however, if the competition is authorised by the ICC.

"There is an issue over whether it is an officially sanctioned event but we hope that can be resolved," said the county's chief executive, Vinny Codrington. "It is clearly a tournament we would like to take part in."

Beaten Twenty20 finalists Kent have been excluded because of their 'rebel' Indian Cricket League players Azhar Mahmood and Justin Kemp.