Joyce relishing Champions League

Ed Joyce smashed 23 from just 12 balls in the Twenty20 Cup final opening the batting

Ed Joyce has admitted he cannot wait to take part in the Twenty20 Champions League with Middlesex Crusaders.

The first edition of the competition was due to begin in India this month but had to be postponed following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

No new date has been confirmed as yet but Joyce is eager for the chance to shine in the competition and end his Middlesex career on a high before joining Sussex for the 2009 season.

“I can’t wait for this Champions League - it sounds like it’s going to be huge,” he told ecb.co.uk.

“India are a huge cricket-loving country, they’re crazy about their cricket but also Twenty20 seems to have taken off there. Some of the biggest teams in the world, some of the biggest players in the world seem to be there.

“It’s not just the amount of media interest, but also speaking to [team-mate Murali] Kartik who’s already out in India, and he was saying the amount of anticipation out there is huge.”

Middlesex secured their place in the inaugural event by lifting the Twenty20 Cup at the Rose Bowl in July, and Joyce believes that experience should stand them in good stead when they eventually fly out to India.

Many have already written off the only English representatives’ chances, but the Dublin-born batsman is having none of it.

Joyce continued: “We’re pretty confident, but obviously we need to get off to a good start.

“We’ve got Victoria in our first game and they’re obviously very strong. It’s very important to try and win your first game in the short term it allows you to get on a bit of roll and if we can win that first game we’ll feel like we can go all the way.

Joyce (centre) celebrates with his Middlesex Crusaders team-mates after they saw off Kent Spitfires in the final at Hampshire's Rose Bowl

“We went into Twenty20 finals day here being 11/1 underdogs out of four teams and we won it so we’re probably quite happy being the underdogs, but as for picking a favourite you'd probably have to go for the Indian sides.

“The team that played in the final of the Twenty20 here is pretty much the team that we have going out there apart from Dirk Nannes, and we obviously have Steven Finn to come in for him, so we’re very confident with that side and with the wickets the way they look like they’re playing we can give it a good go.”

Joyce, who has represented England in 17 one-day internationals, admits that the prospect of ending his time at Middlesex on a high is a major incentive to do well.

The tournament’s postponement has thrown the availability of a number of players - including Joyce - into doubt. Other potential absentees could now include Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah, who could have England commitments, while new signings Neil Dexter and Neil Carter are unavailable. Fast bowler Nannes will be representing Australian side Victoria in the competition.

Joyce said: “It’s huge, I’ve been a Middlesex player since 1997 and made my first-team debut in 1999, so that is nine years of playing for the same club.

“I’ve got some huge friends here and a piece of my heart will always be at Middlesex, so it would be nice to go out on a bit of a high and there’s no better place than the first ever Champions League to do that.

“We do feel we’ve got a chance, it would be very handy if we got Owais and/or Straussy back to play for us but even saying that we feel like we’ve got a good brand of cricket - especially for Indian conditions to do well in the Twenty20.

“We’ve got two very good spinners and we’ve got guys who play spin very well as well, so we’re hoping that that is a big factor out there and looking at the India versus England one-day series, it looks like it is.”

Joyce (left) says Tyron Henderson's (right) big hitting could be the key to success in India

The 30-year-old acknowledges that many will be expecting Middlesex to struggle to get out of their group, and Joyce admits the competition will be tough.

“The Indian sides appear to have a big advantage in that they’re allowed to have four overseas players and they obviously know the conditions,” he said.

“You look at a team like Victoria who haven’t lost many games, the Pakistani side you don’t know who you’re going to get, and they’re obviously a very dangerous side as well. You can’t write off the South African sides either, it’s going to be difficult.”

But Joyce insists that Middlesex have a number of potential match-winners who can take them all the way.

“If we do get Owais or Straussy then it will probably be one of them. Owais obviously plays spin very well so he’d be a huge addition to us,” he added.

“But I see young lads like [Dawid] Malan and [Eoin] Morgan in the middle order - fantastic talents - they have all these trick shots against spin and we saw Dawid in the quarter-final (when he made 107 against Lancashire) how far he hits the leg-spinners they had.

“It’s exciting to have those guys in the middle. We’re hopeful Tyron Henderson has a couple of big innings in him, he didn’t do too well out in Antigua with the bat so we think he’s due and if he could come off in one of the games and then a couple come off in another game then you never know what can happen.”