Stanford series nearing green light

The England & Wales Cricket Board has denied that Allen Stanford's plan for an annual US$20million Twenty20 fixture is in jeopardy because of rifts within the England camp, but the proposal has caused tensions nonetheless, with the breakdown of the prize pool becoming a major talking-point among the squad members.

"The stakeholders are working together to maximise the opportunity for the England team and wider interests of the game," a spokesman for the ECB told BBC Sport. "We have never discussed publicly the details of the contract."

According to the Mail on Sunday, the players are worried about the blame implications of losing such a significant sum of money to the West Indies XI through - for example - a misfield, which could ultimately impact on team cohesion. Potential rifts and injury concerns are also a factor in their resisting even an alternative idea that every player in the game is paid a £500,000 appearance fee.

Of the 12 England players with central contracts, six are not currently involved in the Twenty20 format - including the Test captain, Michael Vaughan, who was quizzed on the subject during his close-of-play press conference at Lord's on Sunday evening. England's back-room staff would also feel entitled to a cut of the winnings, but as yet there is no consensus as to how best this could be done.

"Like most things in life, it's got to be fair," said England's coach, Peter Moores. "If it's fair, people will be fine with it. If it's deemed to be unfair, it'll cause its own dramas." The ECB hope to be able to announce the precise details of the agreement by early next week, with each player on the winning side is expected to pocket US$1million.

Last week Stanford's idea hit another stumbling block when the MCC warned it would not sanction Twenty20 matches featuring Stanford's trademark black bats; a recent change to the laws, which comes into effect on October 1, deems all coloured bats illegal. The loophole, however, might be to make Stanford's series unofficial, though this would consequently rule out Lord's from hosting such unsanctioned matches.