CricDigs Blogs

The world’s most talked about and richest cricket match was supposed to be the $20 million Stanford Super Series Clash. It was scheduled for 1st November 2008 but it may have to be abandoned. This pessimism has come about because of a legal battle over the commercial rights of the match which is scheduled to be played at the Stanford Cricket Ground.

Digicel, the official sponsors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Stanford are caught up in this legal row. Both corporate houses have been raising allegations against each other. Digicel has issued a statement saying that its five-year deal with the WICB includes this match too but Stanford has contested that the match between The Stanford Superstars and Kevin Pietersen’s English side is officially theirs. Digicel’s view seems right because this match too is being backed by the West Indies Cricket Board and as of now, Digicel is their appointed team and board sponsor.

This proposed Twenty20 Match was supposed to be historic and each member of the winning team was set to win nearly $1million. However, the match has already been under legal scrutiny at the London High Court. An arbitration hearing is set to take against the proposed match sometime in October. The commercial controversy has been further fuelled by claims that players from the squad, chosen by Allen Stanford, had failed initial drugs tests. The West Indies Cricket Board’s Chief Executive, Donald Peters has allegedly denied any positive test reports.

Stanford organisers have further claimed that the Superstars are not an official side and are outside the realm of all existing sponsorship deals. Stanford further claimed that the International Cricket Council and the England and Wales Cricket Board, ECB have confirmed their viewpoint. Stanford claims that they too do not consider Stanford Superstars to be a West Indian team. Stanford further argues that the Superstars Team was selected by the Stanford 20/20 organising team and thus, Stanford won’t hand over the telecasting rights to Digicel. Stanford intends to sell the package for Super Series at astronomical amounts.

Further claims have been made regarding the doping case and it is getting murkier by the day. Some people believe that a West Indian batsman was also involved among those who tested positive. The Stanford group explained that the WICB would not proceed with any sanctions against any of the players. But they did promise strict action if the regional governing body itself named anyone.