Sport

The $20 million cricket match

Cricket The fast paced world of Twenty20 cricket has been shocked by the announcement of a $20 million, winner take all, one day match.

The high profile game will be played between the England and the West Indies All Stars.

The match will offer the biggest win bonus in the history of sport and will take place in Antigua on November 1 2008. It will be the first of five annual events funded by the Texan billionaire, Sir Allen Stanford.

With some cricket staff set to become instant millionaires this one game will change centuries of modest earnings and elevating players to the same level as Premiership footballers.

The money

It is estimated that the 11 players on the winning team will collect $1 million each for less than three hours work, each team batting a total of 20 overs in a Twenty20 game.

UK v Australia
The greatest sports rivalry ever known.

The winning manager, coaching staff and reserves will also be in line for record rewards and the cricket board of the respective winners shall also receive a sum of cash. The losers however, would walk away without a penny.

Given the high stakes, competition for team places is expected to be savage. Pressure will also be considerable on the manager who will be responsible for picking the lucky team.

The announcement

Sir Allen flew into the famed Lords cricket ground to make the announcement following over two months of negations with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Met with mixed reception, the high-money game is bound to change the way cricket is perceived and the pay structure of players.

Yet critics have spoken out branding the game a tacky publicity stunt. Many, including the England Cricket Board chairman, Sir Garfield Sobers, fear the match may damage Test Match cricket.

Stanford

Sir Allen Stanford will be financing the cricket out of his vast fortune.

Worth $2 billion, Sir Allen - who is now a resident of Antigua - is ranked as the 239th-wealthiest person in the world. He made his fortune in property sales in the 1980s and later in money management.

Already taking an active role in the sports world his company sponsors golf, tennis, polo and sporting events worldwide.

He sees Twenty20 cricket as next big sport, stating: "Test Cricket is the foundation but Twenty20 is the future."

Sir Allen believes it can overtake football as the world's most popular sport and is pushing for Twenty20's induction into the 2012 Olympics.