-20/20 for US$20M to go ahead
Sir Allen Stanford’s massive financial involvement in 20/20 cricket, seemingly in doubt only a day earlier, became entrenched yesterday.
The American billionaire confirmed that the 20/20 for US$20 million match between his Stanford Superstars and England at his ground in Antigua on November 1 had been salvaged following an agreement between his organisation and West Indies cricket sponsors, Digicel.
At the same time, it was reported from London that the international 20/20 Stanford Quadrangular series is to be held at Lord’s, the game’s mecca, prior to next June’s second World Twenty20 tournament in England.
A report on the Daily Telegraph website stated that the lucrative Quadrangular would feature England, the West Indies and two other teams over three or four days.
Plans for the tournament had been announced in London at the same time as Stanford launched his Antigua extravaganza along with the West Indies Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). But its dates were originally planned for the end of the season, following England’s high-profile Ashes series against Australia.
In giving the green light for the Super Series of six 20/20 matches in Antigua that starts October 25 and culminates with the US$20 million, winner-takes-all showdown, Stanford offered no specifics on the settlement with Digicel.
The wealthy Texan, who has based part of his global financial empire in Antigua, is bankrolling the week-long Super Series as well as the Quadrangular at Lord’s.
“I am pleased with both parties’ solution oriented approach and most importantly that this matter has been finally resolved,” he stated in an official media release.
“We look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to the Stanford Cricket Ground to enjoy a fantastic week of cricket,” he added.
There was no statement from either Digicel or the WICB although one was expected following an all-day WICB meeting in St. Lucia yesterday.
Digicel negotiated from a position of strength following the ruling of the London International Court of Arbitration (LICA) on Monday that backed its assertion that the WICB agreement with Stanford to stage the match “wholly compromises the exclusive rights granted to Digicel as principal sponsors of West Indies cricket”.
Under the ruling, the WICB had to withdraw its recognition of the Stanford 20/20 for US$20 million, making it an unauthorised tournament and exposing participating players to suspension from their boards.
Through the pact with Digicel that allows WICB to maintain its authorisation, Stanford almost certainly conceded several of the rights and entitlements claimed by the Irish mobile telephone company under its sponsorship agreement with the WICB, first signed in 2004.
The most significant was that the Digicel logo appear on the Superstars’ uniform.
Stanford had previously offered Digicel a compromise on branding on advertising boundary boards, mats on the bowlers’ run ups and the big-screen scoreboards and also agreed that no other telecommunications company – in other words, Cable & Wireless – would be involved.
The sticking point was over the logo.
That was cleared after what Stanford termed “a series of extremely productive discussions” between the two sides in which each “committed to achieve a successful outcome for both their organisations and, most importantly, cricket in the West Indies”.
Stanford Super Series Schedule:
October 25: Stanford Superstars v. Trinidad & Tobago.
October 26: England v. Middlesex.
October 27: Trinidad & Tobago v. Middlesex.
October 28: England v. Trinidad & Tobago.
October 30: Stanford Superstars v. Middlesex.
October 31: Legends Beach Cricket.
November 1: Stanford Superstars v. England – Stanford 20/20 for 20.
