England players given half a million reasons to win one Twenty20 match

Texan billionaire Stanford this afternoon confirmed agreement had been reached with the England and Wales Cricket Board to stage the first of what will be a series of matches in Antigua on November 1.

The match has been billed as '20/20 for 20' - with all the 20million US dollars prize money going to the winning team.

My bat, my ball, my cash: Sir Allen Stanford is ploughing £10m into one cricket match

ECB chief executive David Collier said at this afternoon's launch: "It will be one million dollars for each of the players in the 11 in the match, if they win."

Stanford said: "It is one night, winner-takes-all 20 million dollars. The winner goes home happy, the loser goes home unhappy."

The ECB began discussions with Stanford, backer of the Caribbean Twenty20 competition, as they looked for ways to better exploit the growing popularity of the game's shortest format.

The development follows the successful launch of the Indian Premier League and the announcement of a new Champions League tournament for teams from England, India, Australia and South Africa.

Collier added: "It is a wonderful opportunity. It is wonderful to have such a warm endorsement from Sir Allen and it is testament to what we have been trying to do in the game."

Big endorsement: Sir Ian Botham and Sit Viv Richards help launch the big-money clash

Stanford, now a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, got involved in cricket in an effort to raise the standard of the game in the West Indies.

He added: "I don't think I'm giving it away. I'm investing it in cricket's future in the West Indies.

"We're in a bit of a trough and I want to do everything I can to bring it back up. I'm doing the best I can.

"We had to create something that had never been done to take the sport to another level."

Stanford is happy to be working the ECB, having previously been rebuffed in discussions with South Africa and India.

He added: "The ECB have the best organisation, the best management and the best structure to drive cricket into the 21st century."

ECB chairman Giles Clarke denied pandering to a number of England players who had made veiled threats about joining the Indian Premier League in order to take advantage of the lucrative pay-day on offer.

"I'm not seeing a great deal of worry in the dressing room about finances and we are not trying to appease them," he said.

"It gives them a chance to perform under pressure and to make money beyond the dreams of some of their predecessors."

Grand entrance: Sir Allen Stanford arrives to formally announce his plans

West Indies Cricket Board president Julian Hunte stressed the importance of the initiative to cricket in the Caribbean.

"In addition to the players and officials benefiting, we see this as part of the resurgence of West Indies cricket," he told the official launch at Lord's.

"This is a dream come true and hopefully we will be able to capitalise on it in a positive way.

"It is good for us. We need this investment in the infrastructure of cricket to underpin our own strategic plan."

With so much money on offer, England coach Peter Moores admitted the players' mental strength would be tested in a different way, although he did not expect there to be issues if established players were left out of the side in place of up-and-coming stars.

"It will be a different sort of pressure for all the players. It is such an exciting time to be involved in the game," he said.

"Here is an opportunity to earn some extra money and that is going to be great for everyone.

"In modern sport, people know that people get paid differently and you get paid for what you earn the right to.

"If you earn the right to play in that team, you get paid your money. The domestic Twenty20 form guide gives the chance to impress and show they can lift up to international level."