The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : ECB set for multi-million dollar boost

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ECB set for multi-million dollar boost

LONDON: England is set to be offered $100 million (£50 million) to play five Twenty20 matches against a West Indies all-star side, according to reports here on Saturday.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) this week revealed it was “very likely” to accept around £10 million ($20m) for a one-off match in the Caribbean that would be the richest single game in the sport’s history.

The idea is the brainchild of Sir Allen Stanford, the billionaire banker from Texas, who finances the Stanford Twenty20 Tournament in the West Indies, and who wants to expand the concept.

Stanford wants England to play five Twenty20 games against his West Indies all-star side, the first to coincide with Independence Day in Antigua on November 1.

And he held talks with ECB chief executive David Collier on Tuesday.

“I talked to David about the first game and then how we could collaborate in the future,” Stanford told The Times.

“I said that it could be an annual event, maybe we could come to Lord’s in 2009 and then alternate. I would be happy to make a five-year commitment.”

Asked if that meant a total input of $100 million, he said:

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