Allen Stanford was, at one time, a well-known billionaire. That was until he was caught and arrested for running a Ponzi scheme. Before this happened, he founded and invested money in a T20 tournament. It was based in the West Indies.
The Stanford 20/20 was a short-lived cricket tournament in the Caribbean island of Antigua. It was held first in July and August 2006 in the West Indies at the Stanford Cricket Ground, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda and then again in the same place in 2008. It was a variety of the popular Twenty20 format, which had been first introduced in English cricket in 2003. The tournament was separate to the Stanford Super Series; which was held in late 2008.
The tournament was privately devised and funded by wealthy American businessman Allen Stanford, who held Antiguan dual nationality. It has been alleged that Stanford's creation of the tournament was a method of laundering his income from the fraudulent business schemes for which he is now serving a lengthy penal sentence in the United States.
19 teams took part in the inaugural knock-out tournament and 20 teams took part in the second tournament (although 21 teams were originally scheduled to take part). The 2008 season was part of the official calendar of the WICB (West Indies Cricket Board)..
In 2006, a total of 16 teams was in the competition and the final was played between Guyana, led by Ramnaresh Sarwan and Trinidad & Tobago, led by Daren Ganga and what a thrilling final it was, one where Guyana took the trophy and 1 million USD home.
Travis Dowlin was an instrumental part of them winning scoring 80 from 60 but had to retire hurt and Ramnaresh Sarwan saw them to the finish line with his 49 from 40. This was the beginning of T20 cricket in the West Indies.
Initially, the 2008 tournament was planned to include two additional teams from the region in the 2008 competition, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands; increasing the number of teams participating to twenty-one.
However, since the application required by US citizens (such as Stanford himself) and organisations to interact with the island under the United States embargo against Cuba was rejected, Sint Maarten (Cuba's destined opponent in the preliminary round) received a bye.
Would West Indies have won their two World T20 titles if it hadn't been for Allen Stanford?
It is an awkward question on which few in the Caribbean would wish to dwell; with the scars from the Texan fraudster's conviction for engineering a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme still visible across the region.
As Daren Ganga said in Freddie Wilde and Tim Wigmore's book on the T20 revolution, Cricket 2.0, Stanford's domestic tournament "exposed a lot of young, raw talent... the investment made in that format led to West Indies dominating T20 cricket around the world."
Stanford's tournament - played exclusively at his Sticky Wicket ground next to the airport in Antigua - saw 19 teams compete. There was access to a level of professionalism through coaching and fitness regimes that was unprecedented for many local cricketers.
The incentive to win was huge; with a $1 million cheque waiting for the champions and the competition gave birth to one of T20's great teams, Trinidad and Tobago.
That might have been difficult to foresee on the first day of the tournament, on 11 July 2006. "You can see the vibes and the enthusiasm of the teams being here," said Courtney Walsh in the pre-match build-up. "I think this could be the start of what we need to generate a lot of interest back into cricket in the region."
Stanford created and funded the Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament in the West Indies, for which he built his own ground in Antigua, the Stanford Cricket Ground. The first Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament was held in July and August 2006 where Guyana took 1st place defeating Trinidad and Tobago in the final.
The second tournament occurred in January and February 2008 with a global television audience of 300 million. Trinidad and Tobago took first place and with it the US $280,000 Stanford Super Series prize after defeating Middlesex on 27 October 2008.
The first ball brought chaos. Stanford walks off smiling with Sir Vivian Richards, having delivered a baseball-style first pitch - though sadly the footage is lost - before Marlon Brutus, No. 69 on his back, charges in to bowl with a bright orange ball. Terrance Webbe plays all around it, and nearly manages to run out his partner, Alderman Lesmond, and the Stanford 20/20 is born.
Sir Curtly Ambrose was less impressed; telling Ian Bishop before the second game that he is now "more of a bass player in a local group called Big Bad Dread and the Baldhead" and that he thought the first game "would have been a little bit more exciting". Way to sell it, Curtly!"
The second game was livelier, with 42-year-old Pearson Best clubbing 74 off 40 balls to lead Cayman Islands to victory.
The tournament quickly found its feet, with T&T in particular flying: sadly, there is no video evidence of Kieron Pollard's 38-ball 83 in the semi-final against Nevis; the first of his 49 T20 half-centuries.
The final was something else altogether. Guyana were in all sorts, needing 14 off the last over with captain Ramnaresh Sarwan at the wrong end. Mark Nicholas and Tony Cozier bemoaned his partners' inability to get Sarwan on strike: when he finally got it, he heaves Samuel Badree for six, but then can only scramble one.
As Nicholas tries to work out what will happen in the event of a tie, Narsingh Deonarine gets down on one knee and heaves the ball into the leg side.
"Could be six… it is, it is!" cries Cozier. "Guyana have won with a six from Narsingh Deonarine! What a match we've had - a one-million dollar shot from Narsingh Deonarine!"
In June 2008, Stanford and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) signed a deal for five Twenty20 internationals between England and a West Indies all-star XI, with a total prize fund of £12.27 million (US$20 million) to be awarded to the team that won the Championship. It was the largest prize ever offered to a team for a single tournament.
This was in jeopardy after a row with Digicel, the sponsors of the West Indies cricket team, who were unhappy about sponsorship of the event. Eventually, the dispute was sorted out and the championship was won by Stanford Superstars, who defeated the England team by 10 wickets.
Footage from the 2008 tournament is harder to come by but a short compilation from the final provides a reminder of the brilliant theme music, "Come Rise With Me."
The best-known Stanford game, though, came later that year, when England were bowled out for 99 and thrashed by ten wickets in a winner-takes-all, $20-million match. West Indies, playing under the name of the Stanford Superstars, were irresistible: Jerome Taylor knocked over Ian Bell and Matt Prior in quick succession but the best moment was Daren Sammy's exuberant celebration when he bowled Kevin Pietersen round his legs. Former England captain, Nasser Hussain, then expertly put the mockers on Paul Collingwood before the rest of the innings disintegrated.
It's easily forgotten that England started brilliantly with the ball: Andre Fletcher came very close to being run out without facing a ball and Steve Harmison started with a menacing first over. Then came the Gayle-Fletcher show (parts one and two). The moment of euphoria was tinged with sadness, knowing what happened next.
Mike Haysman slipped up massively when handing over the cheque he said was "for $20 000," rather than USD 20 million - but that, in the end, was much closer to the sum that Stanford could actually afford to pay.
On 17 February 2009, when news of the fraud investigation became public, the ECB and WICB withdrew from talks with Stanford on sponsorship. On 20 February 2009, the ECB announced it had severed its ties with Stanford and cancelled all contracts with him
I have a very faint memory of this. It was through a docuseries, The Man Who Bought Cricket, that it brought up a few moments that made me remember the event.
If I hadn't heard of someone and that person wants to do something big; I would conduct a thorough background check. After watching the above series; it was totally disastrous. Stanford acted inappropriately all the time. It's claimed the English team sold their souls for nothing. Since they lost the match; they left the event empty handed.