Tony Becca

The West Indies Cricket Board and problems seem to walk hand in hand. Just when it appears to have solved its long-standing problem with the Players Association, along comes another one - this time with the Stanford 20/20.

This time, however, it is not over money. Although the winner-take-all prize money for the match is a whopping US$5 million, this time it is over the date for a match between the Stanford Super Stars and South Africa - a match, according to Stanford, scheduled and agreed to by the West Indies Board and the International Cricket Council for November 10.

The problem, however, is that the West Indies are scheduled to be in Pakistan at that time and players expected to be named in the West Indies team have been named in the Stanford 20/20 squad for the one-off match. Obviously they cannot be in two places at the same time, and that is the bone of contention with Allen Stanford crying foul.

According to the Texas billionaire who resides in Antigua, Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies Board knew about the date for the match, and the ICC had confirmed the date for the match. He just cannot understand how the West Indies Board could then go ahead and arrange for the West Indies team to be in Pakistan at that time, and in a letter to Gordon dated August 15, he talked about the Board not supporting his 20/20 tournament although it has been a success, although it has been a blessing to West Indies cricket, although he has spent so much money on it, and although he had planned to spend more money in West Indies cricket.

Difficult choices

He also said, in the letter, that he "will not be held responsible for players having to make the difficult choice between a West Indies cricket tour or playing in the Stanford 20/20 Super Star match".

However, according to Gordon, that is simply not true.

According to Gordon, in a press release dated August 17, the West Indies Board welcomed the Stanford 20/20, the Board approved it under the aegis of the WICB, and the Board was aware of a direct correspondence between Stanford 20/20 and the ICC re the match between the Super Stars and South Africa.

According to Gordon, at no time did the Board agree to any date for the Super Star match with any representative of Stanford 20/20, and that the only time it knew of any possible date was when the ICC, in a letter dated January 22, 2006, wrote to the Board advising of its approval of the Stanford 20/20 event for 2006 only.

According to Gordon, the first time he knew of the date for the Super Stars match was while the Board was negotiating with Pakistan, and according to Gordon it was at that time that Stanford 20/20 asked the West Indies Board to make some changes to the itinerary.

Did Gordon and the West Indies Board respond? According to Gordon, they did, and they did so by writing to the Pakistan Cricket Board seeking a change. Because of Pakistan's commitment in the Future Tours programme, however, the reply was no - just as it was during a discussion between the presidents of both Boards at the ICC meeting in London in July.

According to Gordon, another request by the WICB for a change re the start of the Pakistan series was sent to the ICC on August 14, and again, according to Gordon, the WICB is awaiting a reply.

Is Gordon telling the truth? I do not know. What I do know is that I have known the man for 33 years and I do not know him as liar.

The problem, it appears, is that in talking with the ICC, not about one match but about two matches, Stanford informed them of possible dates, and that the ICC confirmed those dates with Stanford - not with the WICB.

ICC package of events

It is interesting to note that in the letter of January 22 to the WICB, in the letter confirming its approval of the Stanford 20/20, the ICC stated, among other things, that "the Executive Board has decided to include 20/20 in the ICC package of events and therefore all future applications for events such as this (such as the Stanford 20/20) will be dealt with on an individual basis at the time of the application", and that "funds from the event (the Stanford 20/20) will be set aside for distribution to the WICB's territorial boards for cricket development purposes".

Allen Stanford may well, as he has said time and time again, love West Indies cricket, he may well, as he has said many times, really want to see West Indies cricketers earning good money, and as he has said time and time again, he may well be spending his money in West Indies cricket in the genuine hope that West Indies cricket will recover its former glory.

This latest problem, it seems, however, may have stemmed from the fact that Stanford, riding on the wave of the popularity of his 20/20 tournament, is ready to flex his muscles, to take advantage of the much maligned West Indies Board, and to get what he wants regardless of the embarrassment to West Indies cricket.

Money talks, especially in the West Indies, and Stanford, it appears, has plenty of it. Like the Players Association, however, Stanford must understand that regardless of how strong he is or may be, how powerful he is or may be, and how popular he is at this time, the real power in West Indies cricket is the West Indies Cricket Board - and that, in a nutshell, means that, money or no money, mind-boggling incentives and prizes or not, West Indies cricket must have priority in anything to do with cricket in the West Indies.

In other words, when it comes to tournament dates and things like that, to who plays when and where, Stanford 20/20 or no Stanford 20/20, West Indies cricket must have first choice or first pick as they used to say around Jamaica when small boys gathered in backyards or in any open spaces to play a match.