Big bucks beaten by big bang
That title doesn’t actually make a lot of sense. But my there’s a lot of b’s in there. It’s really got a sting in it’s tail. Get it?
No. OK. Fine. I’ll get on with the story. Cricket’s attempt at being more baseball has fallen flat on its arse today, after the Stanford Super 20/20 has officially been cancelled. The match, whcih would have carried a $5m jackpot for the winning side, was due to be played between the stars of the Stanford series, and an International XI. But due to the West Indies’ commitments to a series with Pakistan, it’s all gone titsup, and the match has been scrapped. The WICB and PCB couldn’t agree on a change in schedule to allow time for the match.
More-money-than-sense-(but-good-for-WI-cricket) man behind the match, Allen Stanford, was clearly gutted:
“We have done everything right. I have done everything I said I would do and more. We obtained approval from the ruling body for cricket eight months ago, invited and involved the West Indies board in everything that we are doing. Many of the legends are part of the West Indies Cricket Board.
“We had a great tournament (20/20) and we wanted to sum it all up with our best facing an international side. I am truly sorry that is not able to happen this year. There is too much uncertainty and there is too much at stake to move forward with the match at this stage.”
This is a shame – big money is rarely seen in cricket, and is one of the key factors that causes cricket to struggle against other top-flight sports such as Football. Fingers crossed it will go ahead at some point in the future.
