England’s cricketers could be the beneficiaries of the biggest payday in the sport’s history. Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford yesterday offered to fund a $20 million prize for the winner of a 20-over “Stanford Challenge” between England and a West Indian all-stars side in the Caribbean next spring.

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Alan stanford: “When I was at the World Twenty20 in September I went to see India and I offered them $10 million [£5.1 million] to play my team. The BCCI said no, we don’t want to do that, because it would be endorsing a privately funded programme, and look what they’ve done, they have set up their own privately funded programme, the IPL.“

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Kevin Pietersen yesterday admitted that he was excited about the idea of Allen Stanford getting involved with the English game, even though the exact proposals made by the Texan billionaire have not yet been officially confirmed

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