Allen Stanford's super series will now definitely take place. By Owen Gibson.
Abitter sponsorship row which threatened to derail next month's $20m Stanford Twenty20 match between England and a West Indian All Stars XI was settled, ending three weeks of dispute.
A deal was struck after talks between Digicel, the telecom company which pays $4m a year to sponsor West Indies, and the match organiser, Sir Allen Stanford. The deal represents a victory for Digicel after a high court ruling in its favour. The company will have its name on the shirts of the Stanford Superstars team for the $20m six-match series - the key concession it had been fighting for after the news that its telecom rival Cable & Wireless was to be a sponsor.
The scene was set for a rapprochement between Stanford, the Texan billionaire who has put up the prize fund, and Digicel's founder, Denis O'Brien. Stanford said in a statement: "I am pleased ... that this matter has been finally resolved. We look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to Antigua to enjoy a fantastic week of cricket."
The agreement clears the way for the series of matches, also involving Middlesex and Trinidad & Tobago, to begin as planned on October 25, climaxing in the $20m winner- takes-all-game on November 1. The players on the winning side will each pocket $1m.
England's Paul Collingwood said it was a "relief" the match had been salvaged. "I never thought it would be cancelled as they have gone too far down the line."
The former one-day captain said he had not decided how he would spend his money if England won. "I'm not going to go out and buy a Ferrari," he said. "Maybe it's best to put it into the mortgage or put it under the bed in the current climate."
The dispute centred on whether Digicel's sponsorship deal with West Indies extended to the Stanford Series or if organisers had the right to sell branding rights separately.
DIGICEL BELIEVED THAT its contract with the West Indies Cricket Board entitled it to display its name on the West Indian team's shirts.
Unless Stanford and Digicel had reached agreement the West Indies board would not have been able to sanction a match involving any of its centrally contracted stars, and England would have been unlikely to play in an unsanctioned match.
Digicel demanded a guarantee that no other telecom company would be associated with the series, a commitment from Stanford to meet its legal costs, and an agreement that its logo would adorn the shirts of the All-Stars. Stanford acceded on the first two points but drew the line at shirt sponsorship.
The compromise will come as a relief to the ECB, which had been banking on the Stanford Series to placate its centrally contracted players forbidden from participating in the lucrative Indian Premier League. The series is the first of five annual tournaments.
Details emerged of Stanford's inaugural quadrangular tournament in England next year. The event had been expected to take place at the end of the summer of 2009, after the Ashes series. However, it will now be held at Lord's before the World Twenty20 Championship, which begins on June 5.
Staging the stanford Quadrangular so close to the World Twenty20 will make it easier for the ECB to lure first-rate opposition. Played over two days, it will feature England, West Indies and two other national teams and should be an attractive and lucrative warm-up for the international event.
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