Steve Harmison Joins the Soon-to-Be-Millionaires of the Stanford Super Series

It's not long now before the most lucrative cricket series of all-time kicks off: the Stanford Super Series.

Today, England's squad was named. Among them is recently un-retired Steve Harmison. Now 15 players can let the saliva flow as they drool over the prospect of getting $1 million for less than a day's work.

The competition, brainchild of Sir Allen Stanford, is truly a unique one. England will travel to the Caribbean (prize enough in itself I would've thought) to play three games, the last of which will be against the Stanford Super Stars.

Here is the full fixture list:

Oct. 25: Stanford Super Stars v Trinidad and Tobago
Oct. 26: England v Middlesex
Oct. 27: Trinidad and Tobago v Middlesex
Oct. 28: England v Trinidad and Tobago
Oct. 29: Stanford Super Stars v Middlesex
Nov. 1: Stanford Super Stars v England

The match on Nov. 1 is the big one. The prize money is immense, and it's winner takes all. The winning players will all get $1 million each, and the rest of the squad will share $1 million between them.

However, the winner takes all format has drawn some criticism. It is feared that all sporting and fair play "rules" will go out the window with that sort of money on the line.

On top of this, the pressure on the players will be huge. Imagine being the man who has to take a catch, under the lights, towards the end of the innings. The price of dropping that catch would be $20 million.

That player would have to live the rest of his life knowing that he had cost himself and all his fellow players $1 million. Plus, he would have cost the cricket board a lot more money.

But, of course, there is a flip side. You have the chance to be the hero. You take the catch, and you will always be remembered as the man who made the $20 million catch.

It is this unpredictability that will make this Stanford Twenty20 tournament one of the most exciting sporting spectacles of all time. And I can't wait!