McCullum cashes in for Kiwis

Paul Collingwood and England's other budding dollar millionaires may struggle to make Brendon McCullum look like a poor relation at Old Trafford tomorrow night,

One-day captain Collingwood and his team-mates experienced mixed fortunes for their counties during the opening round of Twenty20 Cup matches, a few hours after Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford confirmed he will pay them one million dollars apiece if they beat his West Indian 'Super Stars' in November.

By then, New Zealand's McCullum had blasted a warning to England ahead of tomorrow's Twenty20 clash in Manchester.

McCullum, who smashed 158 from 73 balls when he launched the Indian Premier League two months ago, yesterday hit 123 against Worcestershire in a 50-over game.

Collingwood scored just seven runs in Durham's rain-ravaged Twenty20 win over Derbyshire at the Riverside. But he also took five for 14 with the ball. At the Rose Bowl, Hampshire's Kevin Pietersen (43, plus three wickets) and Middlesex's Owais Shah (48) did well but it was the visitors who won the match by 33 runs.