Stanford Linked To Early End To ECB Deal

Rumours are rife that Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford is seeking to end his five-year multi-million pound deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board after less than one year.

The ECB, which has stated it is ‘unaware’ of any such moves and is seeking clarification from the Stanford camp, has a deal in place with the entrepreneur to fund the annual Stanford Series Twenty20 tournament which has a $20m prize pot each year.

Both the West Indies and England Boards were due to receive $3.5m a year for the Stanford Super Series while each player in the winning side also received $1m.

The agreement, signed last summer amid a flurry of PR, has been controversial from the outset with many critics claiming that the tournament was ‘vulgar’ in its positioning of financial gain above all else.

The inaugural series held in September in West Indies was also undermined by poorly prepared pitches and a lack of commercial interest leading to speculation that Stanford lost as much as $40m in staging the first event of the five-year deal.

Media reports have claimed Stanford told his staff in Antigua that he was dismissing his board of ‘legends’, an advisory body that includes Sir Viv Richards, and had decided to end his involvement with Twenty20 cricket in the West Indies.

His deal with the ECB is set to last five years and also includes a four-team tournament at Lord’s, which is due to start in 2009 and include his Stanford All Stars team.

‘We are unaware of the alleged developments,’ claimed an ECB spokesman. ‘One of the problems we have is that we are five and a half hours ahead of London, who in turn are five hours ahead of America so we are going to have to juggle time zones.’

The outcome of the deal will also have significant bearing on the future of ECB chairman Giles Clarke who will seek re-election next year and pinned his ambitions on the lucrative association with Stanford.

The ECB has conducted a review of the Stanford Series which was due to be delivered at a board meeting at the start of December but was delayed by the crisis in India.

The English governing body has endured a difficult week with lead sponsor Vodafone also ending its 12-year association with the England team at the end of its existing contract which expires at the end of next year.