Fans will soon forget Stanford tie says Cook

Alastair Cook admits he does not know whether the public will be willing England to win when they chase £10million in Antigua.

Despite this week's High Court ruling, the Twenty20 match against Sir Allen Stanford's West Indies Superstars is still expected to go ahead on 1 November.

Assuming it does, Cook is unsure how supporters will react to the idea of cricketers pocketing £500,000 apiece for three hours of work. "I don't know if people want us to win or not," said the Essex opener. "But I do know everyone is talking about it.

"It's a fantastic amount of money but in terms of the nation, and cricket fans, they will probably forget in a week if we've won or not. But they will definitely know who wins the one-day series in India, and who does well leading up to next year's Ashes.

"They are far more important, but because there is so much money on the Stanford game it is getting so much publicity.

"It's like 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' You turn up with nothing and you could go home with anything, but you don't necessarily need it."