Under normal circumstances, Middlesex would have spent last night at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, having opened the inaugural Champions League against Victoria Bushrangers at the Brabourne Stadium a mile away. Talks at the weekend may determine whether the chance to contest the $6 million (about £4 million) prize-money will come again.

Since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has focused on ensuring England's return for the Test series rather than rearranging the postponed Champions League. But Lalit Modi, the tournament chairman, is due to meet fellow stakeholders from Cricket South Africa and Cricket Australia on Sunday.

Modi has hinted at a possible window around the third week of January, before England leave for their tour to the West Indies. This date will become more feasible if India cancel Tests and one-day games in Pakistan scheduled for the same period, but it would still leave a clash with the back end of South Africa's commitments in Australia.

Vinny Codrington, the Middlesex chief executive, believes that most if not all the Middlesex players would be willing to go in January despite security issues arising from the attacks. “While the England boys were due to be in the Taj in a couple of weeks' time, we should have been there one day after the start of the siege,” he said. “Last week, every one of us felt very raw, we did think, 'There but for the grace of God...'

"I would imagine a bunch of English cricketers over for the Champions League would have been a prime target for those men. Players are bound to ask themselves what would have happened if the attacks had come 24 hours later.”

Middlesex do not have all their players on 12-month contracts, but Codrington believes that the squad could be reassembled for a reorganised tournament. “Attitudes have started to soften in the past three or four days and I think over six weeks they will soften more,” he said.

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