By Mark Church

Murtagh fancies Middlesex's chances of causing an upset

Middlesex bowler Tim Murtagh insists the county side have a realistic chance of overturning England in the Stanford Super Series in Antigua on Sunday.

Murtagh told BBC London 94.9: "I think a lot of their guys won't have played as much Twenty20 cricket as us.

"We will have had a week preparation, them not quite so long.

"They've obviously got a bigger prize ahead of them with that Stanford game and if they take their eye off the ball we'll hopefully punish them."

Middlesex play England, followed by a money-spinning match against West Indies Twenty20 champions Trinidad and Tobago on Monday before their final match against the Stanford Superstars.

"We've all played against some of the England guys for their counties but never against them as a unit," added Murtagh.

"It's a good chance for our guys to pit their skills against some of the best players in the world.

"There's talk of Indian Premier League teams being interested in various players so it's a chance for guys to show their skills.

"These games and the Champions League are a massive opportunity for the guys."

England batsman Owais Shah will be in the strange position of playing against his county team-mates on Sunday and Murtagh said he will not be going easy on his friend.

"There's been a bit of banter between me and Owais. He's the key wicket I'm looking to get," Murtagh continued.

"KP [Kevin Pietersen] and Freddie [Andrew Flintoff] would be nice as well but Owais would be the one.

"Me and Scotty [wicketkeeper Ben Scott] have been trying to plan our celebrations if we do get him out."