Stanford Twenty/20 off to great start

Pulling together his Board of Directors, comprised of 14 West Indian Cricket Legends, R Allen Stanford reviewed the amazing buzz about the tournament that has literally crossed the globe.

Within 24 hours after the announcement was made last Monday, to an audience of regional and international media, stories had reached newspapers and internet sites throughout the Caribbean and as far away as the UK, Australia and India.

"We are just thrilled with the response from around the world to this announcement, it is exactly what we hoped for," explained Stanford.

"We wanted everyone to stand up and take notice of cricket in the West Indies and what everyone involved in this tournament is trying to achieve. That is exactly what has happened. I have received dozens of e-mails and calls from all over the world from people who are very excited about the tournament and the Super Star Team concept." One of the most welcomed elements of the announcement by Stanford was the inclusion of funds for each of the countries’ cricket boards invited to participate, an amazing total of more than US$5 million to ensure these countries will have the means to develop competitive teams for the tournament. Countries big and small are relishing the opportunity and submitting their plans for use of their funds.

"To date we have received more than half of the detailed plans from the invited 18 countries," explained Rhonda Kelly of Kelly Holding Ltd, organisers of the tournament.

"We are extremely grateful to Mr Allen Stanford for this once in a lifetime initiative," stated Anguilla Cricket Association president Benjamin Hughes.

"We are thrilled with Mr Stanford’s kindness as we are still struggling with repairs from Hurricane Ivan and these funds will help us replace much needed equipment," stated Cayman Islands national cricket coach, Theo Cuffy.

The 18 countries invited for the tournament include the traditional West Indian countries plus many that are not. The countries invited are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Combined Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nevis, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Maarten, St Vincent & The Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. All have confirmed their participation.

The Super Star team that was devised by Stanford will be chosen by the legends on his Board of Directors from the 18 teams participating in the tournament. This Super Star team will play two matches against invited international teams shortly after the ending of the tournament.

The prize money for each of these single 20/20 matches is US$5 million, winner take all. The next step in the process is providing the funds to the countries, which will begin very soon. Each of the legends on the board has "adopted" countries and will be visiting with those boards and helping them finalise their plans.

"Mr Stanford is a businessman and he has goals and timelines, he wants to give this money to these boards now. He wants them to begin their preparation and start reaping the benefits of the programme right away," board member Rev Wes Hall explained, "once the countries are prepared and ready we should start seeing marked improvement of cricket facilities throughout the Caribbean."