No story illustrates the extraordinary change that has come over cricket better than that of Owais Shah. His next 12 months hold out the promise of vast riches without him ever being required to enter the Test arena, supposedly the pinnacle of the game.

When England’s selectors unveil on Tuesday lunchtime their squad for the Stanford Challenge in Antigua on November 1, for the richest purse the sport has seen, Shah is certain to be included. He is also eligible, through Middlesex’s Twenty20 Cup win, to play five days earlier for the county against Trinidad for a prize of $400,000, as well as in the Champions League in December, when Middlesex compete with seven other teams from across the world for prize-money totalling $10m.

Nor is that all. Shah, like several other England players, expects to be allowed to take part in the highly lucrative Indian Premier - thinking now is that next year’s IPL would be a good way for them to prepare for the World Twenty20, when England will be chasing another big cheque.

There are a lot of hurdles to clear - the Stanford event faces a legal protest from a sponsor, the Champions League lacks a blue-chip backer, and the Middlesex dressing-room is facing upheaval - but if he was to win everything Shah might be making close to £1m without playing in any match lasting longer than four hours.

“Winning the Twenty20 finals day with Middlesex was the high-light of my summer without a doubt,” he said. “It was an unbelievable day, a proper team effort. Of course, there are huge spin-offs and I’ve also been lucky to be involved with England with the whole Stanford thing coming up.

“Early last year I thought I’d never play for England again. It had nothing to do with my form, I was just out of favour. But then the personnel changed and I got another chance. I guess the timing has been pretty good all round.”

If England win the Stanford C h a l l e n g e , S h a h a n d h i s teammates will walk away with $1m each, but only a modest tour fee if they lose. Asked how he would spend the money if England were successful, Shah said: “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. We’ve got to win it first. I’ve learnt not to get ahead of myself.”

He knows what he thinks about playing in the IPL, though: “It would be brilliant. We are about to play a World Cup, so why not play some Twenty20? It makes sense. All it could do is boost England’s chances of winning. It’s not something I’ve discussed with Middlesex but I’m sure they’d be understanding if I wanted to play IPL.”

England’s sweeping victory over South Africa in ODIs has greatly simplified the job of the selectors, who will also be picking a party for seven 50-overs matches in India.

The XI who featured in the last four ODIs against South Africa are surely guaranteed their places – Steve Harmison’s reluctance to displace a deserving colleague at the eleventh hour looks certain to be overridden – and these may well be the 11 players wielding the black bats and bowling at silver stumps in the Twenty20 for $20m.

It is the back-up positions that may lead to some agonising among Geoff Miller and his selectorial colleagues. Debate will focus on the identity of a spare batsman (probably Alastair Cook), spare allrounder (Ravi Bopara or Mascarenhas), second spinner (Graeme Swann, only recently usurped in the final XI by Samit Patel) and reserve fast bowler (Ryan Sidebottom or Chris Tremlett).

This last position may be where the selectors indulge sentiment. Sidebottom, sidelined by a groin injury and general fatigue, has not played competitively since August 2, but has served England well for 15 months and the selectors may think he deserves a chance to at least share $1m with the other nonplaying members of the squad.

Graham Napier, the people’s favourite, will surely feature in discussions but an occasion such as this, loaded with tension, is probably no place for anyone to be given a first cap. Youth should still be represented well in the shape of Stuart Broad, Luke Wright, Bopara, Cook and Patel, all under 24.

It is unclear how many players the selectors will want to take to Antigua or India. Given the financial consequences for players of missing out on a Stanford place, it might be diplomatic for Miller’s panel to name one 15-man squad to serve both missions, even though 14 or even 13 might be sufficient for Antigua. Middlesex's presence means there will be experienced replacements to hand in Andrew Strauss, Ed Joyce and Shaun Udal in the case of any emergency.

Spare a thought for the selectors. Routinely castigated for their efforts - not without cause this summer - they face a tough task over the next 48 hours.

Not only do they have the invidious task of denying some players the opportunity to win a small f o r t u n e , t h e y a l s o h a v e t o announce a fresh round of England contracts (with the performance-re-lated element of pay increased). Broad looks sure to be included for the first time after taking big strides this year and his advancement is likely to come at the expense of Matthew Hoggard.

Most interest, however, will surround Michael Vaughan’s prospects of another contract after stepping down as Test captain. Vaughan has declared his intention to regain his place as a batsman after his form collapsed against South Africa but he has yet to make the runs for Yorkshire he knows he needs to merit a recall.

Logically, Vaughan ought to be left out of at least the first Test tour of the winter, to India, to allow Kevin Pietersen the space to develop his captaincy style, but Pietersen (who has shown himself to be inclusive) is a strong supporter of Vaughan's and he may push for Vaughan to be given another contract and for his swift return to the team’s inner sanctum.

Vaughan’s cause is helped by the fact that no one - not even Shah - is staking a strong claim to displace him on the list of 12 contracted players. As was the case last year, no wicketkeeper is likely to be recognised, although Matthew Prior now appears to be in pole position to keep in Tests and one-dayers. The squad for the India Tests is due to be named on September 29, two days after the end of the season.

POSSIBLE SQUAD: I Bell, M Prior, K Pietersen (capt), P Colling-wood, A Flintoff, O Shah, S Patel, L Wright, S Broad, S Harmison, J Anderson, R Bopara, A Cook, G Swann, R Sidebottom.