A nightmare end to Stanford's dream

While Giles Clarke, the England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, and David Collier, the chief executive, were clearly pleased with themselves, many people cringed on their behalf - and for their sport - when they strode across the Nursery Ground at Lord's one day early last summer to greet Stanford with open arms after he had helicoptered into the home of cricket.

There was much waving and back-slapping followed by the tacky unveiling of a Perspex chest supposedly containing $20million in new bank notes. So, just what was it that first attracted them to the billionaire Texan?

At least no one tried to pretend it could have been for his deeply-rooted love of cricket, for Stanford freely admitted he thought Test matches were "boring". Come to think of it, he probably has the same view of 50-over contests.

No, Sir Allen's bag was Twenty20 - the crash-bang-wallop brand of the game that just about anyone can understand. And he seemed to provide England's hierarchy with a heaven-sent opportunity to follow their own path to riches, rather than be reliant on India's Premier League powerbrokers.

Stanford showered praise on the ECB's top men, applauding their vision and suggesting that, while he had spoken to other countries about his "Superstars" vision, he had now found the right people to do business with.

And what business it promised to be. First, there was the headline event, the annual $20m winner-takes-all game at Stanford's private ground in Antigua (in fact, it was winner-takes-$13m, with $7m being split equally between the England and West Indies cricket boards to help cricket lower down the ladder).

Then there would be a four-team international tournament at Lord's each year, starting next August, with England, the Superstars and a couple of invited countries taking part.

But, probably most appealing of all to Clarke and Collier was the suggestion Sir Allen would show a keen financial interest in the England Premier League - a Twenty20 competition due to be launched in 2010 and, if optimists inside the ECB are to be believed, an event to rival the IPL.

Now it seems, after one week in the Caribbean which proved anything but an experience to treasure for the visitors, it will all end in tears with reports today that Stanford is set to pull the plug on his multi-million pound involvement in cricket.

Kevin Pietersen's England were so woeful in last month's big match - scoring only 99 runs - that the Superstars (drawn from Caribbean countries) were mentally counting their cash long before home captain, Chris Gayle, sealed a 10-wicket victory. But even before the finale, there had been plenty of negative publicity, with poor pitches, substandard floodlights and Stanford's determination to appear on TV as often as possible, even if it meant inviting young ladies to sit on his knee. Unfortunately, the ladies in question were attached to the England team, and their husbands thought even less of that than they did of seeing the paymaster walk uninvited into their dressing room.

Pietersen and Co later admitted they had not tackled the week very well, with the captain talking of "buying into it and giving it a heck of a go" next year. Now, it appears, there will not be a next year or any of the four remaining years for the Stanford-style Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

With IPL contracts soon coming their way and international cricket a well-paid career these days, most members of the England team will take the same philosophical view about Stanford's decision as current wicket-keeper, Matt Prior. "It's a huge opportunity to play in one of those games and a life-changing opportunity," said the Sussex player, who was on the losing side in Antigua. "But what will be will be. We are not in control of that. If it carries on, fantastic, if not, there will be other things."

For England cricket, though, what looked like a guaranteed £2m a year for the next four years has apparently been taken away. Then there is the four-team event, which might have raised a similar amount through to 2012. Cloth will have to be cut accordingly.

As for the EPL, that should do nicely enough if it is a good enough event -with or without a billionaire putting some money in the pot.

The immediate question, however, is what damage will Stanford's decision to take his bat and ball home do to the reputation of Clarke, who put so much faith in the American's involvement?

A person who divides opinion around the counties may now find he has a re-election campaign to fight in March, despite his claim of a few weeks ago that no one would stand against him.