England to face Stanford Super Stars
The England and Wales Cricket Board have agreed to play five winner-takes-all £10m Twenty20 matches in the Caribbean after signing a deal with Sir Allen Stanford.
One of cricket’s greatest rivalries was rekindled today at the launch of the Stanford 20/20 for 20 where Sir Allen Stanford, on behalf of the Stanford 20/20 Board, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), announced a new five-match series for the richest team prize for a single sporting match of US$20million.
Starting from November 1, the series of five annual ‘winner takes all matches’ will be hosted at the spectacular Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua, where England will face the Stanford Super Stars under the lights and electric atmosphere synonymous with Stanford 20/20.
According to Stanford, Chairman of Stanford Financial Group and founder of the Stanford 20/20 tournament, the confirmation of the series was another great step forward for cricket in the Caribbean.
“I see the Stanford 20/20 for 20 as a fantastic opportunity for current players in the Stanford 20/20 tournament to take a giant leap into the spotlight and gain exposure to top class opposition,” he said.
“The Stanford 20/20 for 20 will be a highly anticipated event, not just because of the prize money, but because of the traditional friendly rivalry that exists between England and the West Indies.”
Legends Sir Ian Botham and Sir Vivian Richards were at Lord’s for today’s launch.
“I can’t think of a better example of the people who personify this rivalry, will to win, and mutual respect more than Sir Viv Richards and Sir Ian Botham,” added Stanford. “Their values and fighting spirit are also everything that Stanford 20/20 cricket represents and strives for.”
As well as Botham and Richards, today’s launch drew support from some of the icons of West Indies cricket including Sir Everton Weekes, Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson and Curtly Ambrose.
Months of planning with the ECB and WICB have resulted in the series being confirmed as ICC authorised matches. ECB Chairman Giles Clarke explained that the new series represented the boards’ commitment to supporting the world-wide growth of 20/20 cricket and the opportunities for its players:
“We are extremely delighted that Sir Allen has chosen to work in partnership with the ECB,” he said.
“These matches will offer a chance for not only international cricketers but cricket at all levels - both here and in the Caribbean - to benefit. It is a hugely exciting time for cricket and particularly Twenty20 cricket.”
According to the WICB President Julian Hunte, the Stanford 20/20 for 20 will play an increasingly important role in developing cricket in the region.
“Today is an important day for West Indies Cricket and our emphasis on cricket development,” he said.
“The goal we have set ourselves in our strategic plan is to regain our rightful place at the pinnacle of world cricket by 2012. To achieve this goal we need to have more people, especially our youth, developing a passion for the game.
“The financial support and the partnership with Stanford 20/20 and the ECB are pivotal to the future of West Indies cricket. Right now, we are everybody’s second best team. In four years we will be the best team in the world.â€
The Stanford 20/20 for 20 is the latest sporting sponsorship confirmed by Sir Allen and is part of an overall investment plan for developing the profile, future players, and renewed success of West Indies cricket.
The Stanford Financial Group is also the title sponsor for such sporting events as the Stanford US Open Polo Championship, the Stanford USPA Silver Cup, the Stanford Antigua Sailing Week, the PGA Tour Stanford St. Jude Championship and the Stanford International Pro-Am.
Twenty20 winners eye £2.5m jackpot
The Champions League of cricket is no pipedream. It was announced yesterday that a Twenty20 club tournament, which will have a winners’ prize of $5m (£2.5m), an astonishing figure by cricketing standards, will take place during a 10-day period in late September and early October, either in India or the Middle East. Dubai is emerging as the likeliest venue.
There will be eight teams, 15 matches and loadsamoney. We already know the identity of six of them. From India there will be Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals, the IPL winners, and the Chennai Super Kings; from South Africa the Titans (of Pretoria) and KwaZulu Natal Dolphins; from Australia Victoria and Western Australia.
And from England? Well, we don’t know yet. But we should do by late afternoon on 11 July, the day when the Twenty20 Cup reaches its climax. The two finalists will qualify for this Champions League bonanza. If the domestic competition here needed a little spicing up this announcement has achieved that at a stroke.
On Wednesday the domestic Twenty20 tournament gets under way and the players will now be desperate for success in this competition ahead of the others. The rewards now on offer for a successful county outstrip what is currently on offer at international level, let alone the Friends Provident, the Championship or the Pro40.
England strikes Twenty20 jackpot
ENGLAND cricketers will be given the chance to become millionaires for three hours’ work, with Allen Stanford and the England and Wales Cricket Board announcing a five-year program of Twenty20 matches and quadrangular international tournaments worth a total of almost $US150million ($158m) at Lord’s overnight.
Stanford, a billionaire from Texas who admits to hating Test cricket, will confirm a personal injection of $US100m into five matches between England and his West Indies All Stars. The first will take place at his ground in Antigua on November 1.
If England wins, each of the XI will receive $US1m, while the rest of the squad shares $US1m and the management team splits another $US1m. The remaining $US7m is to be shared equally between the ECB and the West Indies Cricket Board, regardless of the result.
The concept of winner-takes-all has therefore been reduced to something like winner-takes-two thirds, but the pot dwarfs anything previously at stake in the sport. Rajasthan Royals took “only” $US1.2m for winning the Indian Premier League, while total prizemoney for the 2007 World Cup was $US5m.
On an individual level, players such as Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen would earn about pound stg. 500,000 ($1.03m) in three hours, which is more than they make playing as an England-contracted player.
In addition, Stanford is putting up $US9.5m for each of five annual four-team events to be held in England from 2009, a total of $US47.5m. They will comprise semi-finals and a final, with the first expected to feature New Zealand and Sri Lanka alongside England and West Indies, who will always be involved.
England to play Caribbean in $US20-million game
England will play a “winner-takes-all” Twenty20 cricket fixture against a Caribbean all-star side for a record prize pot of $US20 million ($NZ27 million) on November 1, Texan billionaire Allen Stanford has confirmed.
The match is the brainchild of Antigua-based Stanford, the chief executive of the Stanford Financial Group, who is putting up $US100 million for five annual clashes between England and the Stanford Super Stars.
The 11 active players on the winning side will walk away with $US1 million each with a further two million going to squad players and coaching and management staff.
Seven million dollars will be shared between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), both of whom have been heavily involved in getting the series off the ground.
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