Stanford Series Hit By Sponsorship Rights Row

The lucrative $20m Stanford Super Series match between England and a Caribbean team – the world’s richest cricket game – could be under threat because of a commercial dispute over sponsorship rights.

Digicel, sponsors of the West Indies Cricket Board, are involved in a rights row with the organisers of the Stanford Series, which is scheduled to take place on 1st November.

Digicel believes its five-year deal with the WICB covers the match in Antigua, which will see a Stanford Superstars XI take on England with every member of the winning side guaranteed $1m in prize money.

The organisers insist the Superstars are not an official side and the agreement with Digicel does not apply, allowing them to sell sponsorship rights to a rival mobile phone company.

The dispute is set to be resolved via a High Court hearing scheduled to take place in London next month.

This year’s game is the first of five matches which will take place under agreements between Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, the WICB and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

A statement from the organizers read: ‘The International Cricket Council and ECB have confirmed they do not consider the Stanford Superstars team to be a West Indies team.

‘Stanford 20/20 is not willing to gift to Digicel valuable rights to which it is simply not entitled and which Stanford 20/20 intends to sell as part of a sponsor package for the Stanford Super Series.’

The disagreement is believed to focus on whether Digicel’s logo will appear on the Stanford team’s clothing.

‘Digicel have demanded that their logo appears on the Stanford Superstars shirt in the same way they appear on the West Indies shirts,’ said a Stanford spokesman.

‘The sticking point is they want that at no extra cost. We are not happy to do that.’

If Digicel wins the High Court case, the match could then become unsanctioned, though the organisers sought to play down fears the match might have to be called off.

The England squad is due to travel to the Caribbean on 24th October. The week-long event will see both sides play warm-up matches against Trinidad and Tobago and county side Middlesex, the winners of England’s Twenty20 Cup, before meeting in the final winner-takes-all showdown.