Clouds over conduct of Stanford Super Series

The one-off $ 20 million winner takes all prize money Twenty20 fixture between a select England team and the Stanford Super Series has run into bad weather.

Michael Holding who initially termed the Stanford series as amazing and comprehensive, is now calling it a farce. Holding says that Stanford has lost interest in developing cricket in the West Indies and is more interested in promoting his business.

Regardless of Holding's 'bulti' or its aftermath, there is one more reason for the organisers to be jittery. Digicel , who have the exclusive sponsorship rights with the West Indies Cricket Board, has brought an injunction in the High Court of London claiming that the deal between the WICB and Stanford encroaches their exclusive rights. This injunction is to be heard on September 18.

As legal circles believe that Digicel is on strong grounds the case has all the elements to torpedo the Stanford Super Series.

Right from the beginning skeptics have openly wondered at Stanford's motive. The man has compounded the skepticism by making an off the cuff remark that he finds Test cricket boring. This comment has served to raise quiet a few hackles.

Now, it remains to be seen how serious Stanford is about developing WI cricket or whether he will end up being considered the villain of the piece.

Sadly, the ECB is also entwined in this murky business. Lets us hope the Stanford Super Series goes through as both the ECB and the WICB need it to develop their cricket.







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