Sir R. Allen Stanford (second left), chairman of Stanford Twenty20 Cricket, and the England and Wales Cricket Board, surrounded by officials and former cricket star-players, poses in front of a box containing US$20 million, during a photo call following a news conference at the Lord's Cricket Ground, yesterday. With him are former West Indian cricketer Sir Viv Richards (left) and Dr Julian Hunte, president of the West Indies Cricket Board. - AP

LONDON, England (CMC):

Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford yesterday unveiled a multimillion dollar joint venture with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which will see a one-off, winner-takes-all US$20 million match being staged in Antigua this November.

The match, scheduled for November 1 on Antigua & Barbuda's Independence Day, will be held annually for the next five years at the Stanford Cricket Board, and will result in US$100 million being poured out during that period.

A Stanford Twenty20 All Stars team, which will be selected shortly, will clash with England for the largest ever payout for a single cricket match.

"I don't think I'm giving it (money) away, I'm investing it in cricket's future for the West Indies," Sir Allen told reporters.

"As everybody knows, we are in the bottom of the trough right now and I've been in the Caribbean for 26 years and when you see something that you love so dearly - that glue, that fabric that binds us all together in the West Indies - at the bottom, you want to do everything in your power to bring it back up.

Focus on the future

"Right now we're not running our sport in the Caribbean at a professional level so hopefully this will, as long as we continue to focus on the future, be a great thing that moves us very quickly in that direction."

Every member of the winning 12-man squad will take home a million dollars, with another million being shared among the coaching and management staff. The West Indies Cricket Board and the ECB will split the remaining cash.

Though the prize money will be worth US$100 million, the overall value of the match fee is expected to be as much as US$150 million because of other associated costs.

WICB president Julian Hunte said he was thrilled by the venture and said he viewed the investment from a developmental perspective.

"It is (important money for West Indies cricket) and, in fact, it is a very serious investment, the largest investment that we have had by any one individual in cricket, period," Hunte said.

"We intend to make use of it and in addition to the players and the officials benefiting, we see this as part of the resurgence of West Indies cricket. So that, for us, it is a dream come true and, hopefully, we will be able to capitalise in a very positive way."

He added: "Out of this tournament will come something like (US$33.5 million) which will go towards our own development so it is good for us as we look at the resurgence of cricket. We need this investment in the total structure of our cricket to underpin our own strategic plan."

Lucrative venture

ECB Chairman Giles Clarke lauded Sir Allen for the lucrative venture and noted that it was important to England that West Indies cricket returned to the top.

"He is a great, legendary entrep-reneur. He has the entrepreneurial skill of stopping an opportunity and seizing it and taking it forward," Clarke said.

"He cares intensely about the Caribbean and about the development of cricket in the Caribbean and West Indies cricket. That's really important to English cricket.

"We've got a long and very happy relationship going with the Caribbean for hundreds of years and, in particular, with West Indies cricket which has been a tremendous source of friendly rivalry ever since they started playing Test cricket against us."

Twenty20 legends

Sir Allen, who bankrolls the lucrative Stanford Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean, made the announcement at the ECB headquarters at Lord's, flanked by several of his Stanford Twenty20 legends.

He touched down by helicopter on the practise ground here in North London and alighted in the company of Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Everton Weekes, Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson.

They were greeted by Sir Garfield Sobers, another of the Stanford Twenty20 legends and the greatest all-rounder to have played the game.

The media conference was also attended by ECB chief executive, David Collier, and legendary English all-rounder Sir Ian Botham.