A Stanford reality check for West Indies

As Julian Hunte and Donald Peters were at their kiss-and-make-up lunch in Antigua last week, settling an issue that had absolutely nothing to do with the depressed state of West Indies cricket, 30 players were going through the rigours of training and coaching nearby.

They were all West Indian but, even though the next official West Indies assignments are the Associates tri-series in Toronto in August and the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September, they weren't there as a West Indies team.

While president Hunte occupied himself with chief executive Peters' handling of a report claiming the WICB paid for the work on his office in St Lucia, no side had yet been announced for either Toronto or Pakistan - and still hasn't.

What is more, confusion remained over Chris Gayle's resignation as captain. There were no such distractions for the players in Antigua, members of the initial Stanford Superstars squad for the breathtaking US$20 million one-off winner-take-all challenge match against England, devised and financed by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford at his ground adjoining the VC Bird International Airport, almost three months distant on November 1.

They were there for a fortnight's training camp, ending on Wednesday, that the Stanford organisation said was "designed to upgrade the fitness levels of the players and fine-tune their all-round cricket skills". There would also be "emphasis on other critical aspects of the game such as team work, strategy formulation and video analysis review".

The Superstars are under the direction of head coach Eldine Baptiste and his deputy Roger Harper, the former West Indies allrounder with compelling coaching credentials. Sir Viv Richards, the chief selector, and Lance Gibbs, the manager, are the West Indies icons who are part of the event. Cardigan Connor, the Anguillan who played for several seasons with Hampshire, will be Gibbs' assistant.

They were augmented by "specialist advice from several of the legends of West Indies cricket on the Stanford 20/20 board of directors and other experts including the internationally-renowned fielding coach Julian Fountain".

As his investment of unprecedented millions into the game confirms, Stanford doesn't deal in half-measures. He has no intention of depositing his US$20 million into English bank accounts and has called in West Indian heavyweights to ensure that he doesn't have to. If those picked do not benefit from the exercise, they had no right being there.

Yet it gives rise to an obvious dichotomy. Within the next week or so, several of the Superstars must come back to earth and link up again with the established WICB management for the upcoming tournaments.

Coach John Dyson, assistant David Williams and manager Omar Khan are all relatively new to their jobs. They are still feeling their way, trying to overcome the inconsistent performances of the team and the consistent bungling of the board.

Now their main charges return from a fresh experience under different coaches, presumably with different methods. It is a situation to be repeated over the next five years that these multi-million dollar, one-off extravaganzas are scheduled.

For the past two weeks in Antigua, the adrenaline of Stanford's Superstars would have been driven by the hype surrounding the November 1 event. They would have been flattered by the close and constant attention of the West Indies greats and five-star amenities. Not least, they would have had ample time to contemplate the unprecedented wealth on offer.

They now have to return to reality, to a low-key series against Canada and Bermuda in Toronto, followed by the Champions Trophy in Pakistan that most players would rather avoid. November 1 can't come around fast enough.

It all adds up to a formidable challenge for Dyson and his associates to assert their influence once more.