Stanford: 'ECB at a crossroads'

Updated 09.39 Wed Apr 23 2008
Keywords: IPL, stanford, cricket, ECB

The England Cricket Board is in discussions to establish a Twenty20 tournamant to rival the Indian Premier League.

Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford who has proposed a lucrative one-off 20-over match between England and a West Indies all-star team, claims it is "inevitable" that England will have its own lucrative league to compete with the IPL.

"It's inevitable that the ECB will create a Twenty20 league, it's inevitable that it will involve the private sector and it's inevitable that the game will evolve" - Sir Allen Stanford

He said: "If you ask me who's going to be directing the Twenty20 game in the future, it'll be the English. The organisation here is better, the management is better, the structure is better.

"I think they're going to reach out to private investors and float something, who knows, down the road. I have spoken to people, a mixture of Europeans and Americans. It's a couple of phone calls and we could see something happen. The private sector would be involved, people like myself come in and invest, and the ECB run it. TV revenue would be split.

"The ECB realise they're at a crossroads. They either let the Indians do it or they step up and get a game plan. You want something that will have lasting value for everybody.

"It's inevitable that the ECB will create a Twenty20 league, it's inevitable that it will involve the private sector and it's inevitable that the game will evolve."

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