ECB expect Stanford deal to continue

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are confident their lucrative relationship with Allen Stanford is not in jeopardy following reports the Texan billionaire was set to pull out of the sport. Britain's Daily Mail newspaper said Wednesday that Stanford was withdrawing from cricket after losing 40 million dollars on his million-dollar-a-man winner-takes-all Twenty20 match in November and associated Super Series. The report said Stanford was poised to end his five-year-deal with the ECB after just a year as well as his funding for the big-money Twenty20 match, expected to continue for the next four years, and two tournaments in England. Stanford's spokeswoman did confirm Wednesday that he had axed his ambassadorial board of legends for the Super Series, including West Indies great Viv Richards, and said he was considering his options. But ECB chairman Giles Clarke indicated that what had annoyed Stanford was the way in which the Twenty20 match was nearly scuppered by a row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and their official team sponsors Digicel. The communications firm went to London's High Court to establish that, as the official sponsor of the WICB until 2012, it enjoyed commercial rights associated with a game that was, in effect, a West Indies XI v England. After Digicel's court victory, an agreement between the company and Stanford ensured the Twenty20 match went ahead in Antigua as planned. Clarke, speaking to reporters in Mohali where the second Test between England and India starts Friday, said: "Any issues that exist are clearly issues that exist in the Caribbean and we are not involved. "Like any other commercial agreement, ours remains fully in force. David Collier (ECB chief executive) has spoken to him and he wanted to make it clear that he is committed to working with the ECB. "His issue is with the West Indies Cricket Board over the Digicel matter."

Stanford, in a statement issued by his organisation late Wednesday, pledged to continue working with the ECB. "Sir Allen reaffirmed his desire to continue to work with the England and Wales Cricket Board and discussions are currently ongoing between Stanford 20/20 LLC and the ECB," the statement said. He also confirmed that he intended "to announce the programme for 2009 and beyond by the end of January 2009." The statement also gave Stanford's first public confirmation of his backing for the English Premier League Twenty20 competition, an event which the ECB hopes will rival the money-spinning Indian Premier League (IPL). He is also expected to support an annual four-team event at Lord's, the first edition of which has been pencilled in for May 28-30 next year as a warm-up for the World Twenty20 in England. While a scaling-down of his cricket activities would hurt the ECB, it would be a far bigger blow to cash-strapped Caribbean cricket. The Daily Mail reported Stanford had made heavy losses after paying out 20 million dollars in payments to his winning Superstars, who thrashed England by 10-wickets in Antigua last month, and the two boards while another 20 million dollars was tied up in television and sponsorship deals connected to the event. Stanford hoped the Super Series would help cricket crack the US market, although there was little evidence it did so, while the ECB saw the series as a way to forestall the exit of leading players for lucrative IPL engagements. But his high-profile presence at the Antigua match caused unease and he was forced to apologise after he was pictured with the wife of England wicket-keeper Matt Prior sitting on his knee. English cricket is already facing the end of several commercial contracts. On Tuesday, England team sponsor Vodafone announced it would end its annual backing of four million pounds in 2010.