Stanford: two years on
November 1 marked an anniversary that passed many people by and one that the ECB are still trying to forget
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
November 1 marked an anniversary that passed many people by and one that the ECB are still trying to forget. It was two years since England took on Allen Stanford's All Stars in the now infamous match in Antigua for the prize kitty of $20 million. The scorebook recalls a 10-wicket thrashing for England and plenty of embarrassment, but that doesn't begin to tell the story of how Stanford's world was already falling apart around him.
Andy Bull, from the Guardian, was one of the journalists to cover the story from the start to, well, as far as it's gone, and he delves into his own archives to remember the murky tales that developed. It's all the latest edition of Spin.
I first met Stanford in February 2008, three months before the ECB signed its deal with him. A friend was working at a consultancy who had been doing some work for Stanford's firm, and he had heard word that Stanford's people were looking to make contact with some English cricket journalists. He put them in touch with me. A few weeks later I flew out to Antigua along with three other journalists, two English and one Australian. The trip was entirely at Stanford's expense.
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo