Allen Stanford: set to make England's players very rich.
The formal announcement will come this afternoon at Lord's but agreement has been reached between the ECB and billionaire Allen Stanford for a series of Twenty20 matches which could make England and West Indies players among the highest paid in the game.
It is rumoured that the total value of the deal could be as much as US$150 million, with the bulk being invested in five US$20 million games at his purpose-built ground in Antigua. The first of these is expected to be held in early November, before England head to India.
There were concerns with the winner-takes-all format proposed by Stanford but those seem to have been resolved. The Times reports that a deal has been reached which will mean that if England win, each of the XI will receive US$1 million, the rest of the squad share US$1 million, and the management team splits another US$1 million. The remaining US$7 million would be shared between the ECB and the West Indies Cricket Board, regardless of the outcome of the match itself.
If correct, this could exceed the sums available for players in the IPL, and would also come on top of their existing ECB central contracts.
Aside from the five matches, Stanford will also put up US$9.5 million a year for five annual quadrangular events to be held in England from next year. England and West Indies will always be involved in these.
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