Stanford match to go ahead as scheduled

A "commercial agreement", reportedly finalised after a trans-Atlantic telephone conversation between Sir Allen Stanford and Denis O'Brien, head of Digicel, sponsors of West Indies cricket, has opened the way for the Stanford 20/20 for 20 match between the Stanford Superstars and England to go ahead.

The agreement is to go before the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) directors for ratification when they meet in St Lucia today, clearing the way for go-ahead.

A statement is expected after all the details have been finalised. But players of both teams were assured on Wednesday by Stanford officials that the Super Series of six matches, also involving warm-ups and a match between regional Stanford 20/20 champions, Trinidad and Tobago, and England Twenty20 Cup winners, Middlesex, for a US$400,000 purse, is still on.

The tournament was thrown into doubt after the London Court of International Arbitration (LICA) upheld the objections of Digicel that the WICB had entered an agreement with Stanford that "wholly compromises the exclusive rights granted to Digicel as principal sponsors of West Indies cricket".

As it effectively rendered the agreement null and void, official recognition would be withdrawn from the match and it would be regarded by the ICC as an unauthorised, private event.

As such, any players participating would open themselves to the same ban applied to those in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that similarly lacks official recognition.

The winner-takes-all extravaganza, promoted as the richest match in the history of the game, was announced by Stanford himself on behalf of his 20/20 board, the WICB and the England and Wales Cricket Board (WICB) at Lord's on June 11.

It is planned over five years with a US$20 million price tag each time - US$1 million each for players on the winning team, US$1 million to be shared between the reserve players and US$1 million between the support staff. The WICB and the ECB would each receive US$3.5 million annually.