England play their "winner-takes-all" Twenty20 fixture against a Caribbean all-star side for a record prize pot of $20m on Saturday at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua. Antigua-based billionaire Allen Stanford has put up $100m for five annual clashes between England and the Stanford Super Stars.
The 11 active players on the winning side will walk away with $1m each with a further two million going to squad players and coaching and management staff.
The timing of Saturday's match in Antigua hasn't helped Stanford's bid to boost cricket's global status. Amid a looming recession, fans struggling financially could watch the 11 England players each pocket a million.
"To have these huge rewards for one match is, to my mind, just stupid," said Lord McLaurin, former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board. "My view as a traditionalist is that Twenty20 has a place, but this sort of pantomime cricket doesn't. This sort of thing is just obscene, especially with the financial state the country is in." Stanford batted away the criticism before insisting "it's a spectacle, it's not a farce."
Perhaps there were warning signs in June at Lord's when the Texan billionaire, who has lived in the Caribbean for 26 years, outlined his five-year plan for Twenty20 cricket to take over the sport in front of a crateload of bills amounting to $20m.
Amidst the controversies, Sean Morris, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, said that the event can be compared to a garden party. "The England players feel sensitive that they might be exposed; very concerned about how they will be perceived."
England allrounder Andrew Flintoff sought to take the sting out of the row by highlighting the positive impact of the event. West Indies cricket will receive $3.5m annually over the five-year deal. "When you look at the money that is up for it then, yeah, it is all about the money," Flintoff said. "One of the good things to come from it is West Indies cricket and seeing people come and watch.
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