ICC statement on proposal for Stanford Twenty20 tournament

ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed today made the following statement in the wake of media reports concerning a proposal from businessman Mr Allen Stanford to stage an international Twenty20 tournament in Antigua:

"The recent ICC Board meeting in London included a discussion on Mr Stanford's proposal," said Mr Speed.

"Our Members have raised genuine concerns about the concept and have asked ICC to act as an intermediary and help manage discussions between Mr Stanford and the potential host of the matches, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

"The Members recognize the potential benefits of the tournament for the development of cricket in the West Indies. At the same time they wish to ensure that their participation in any event such as this will benefit as many of the game's stakeholders as possible to help facilitate its continuing strong growth.

"They are keen to ensure any tournament is, wherever possible, consistent with the aims of the current Future Tours Program in terms of both player workload and the existing cap on Twenty20 Internationals (each team is limited to two per series, three per home season and seven per year, excluding ICC events).

"Our Members also wish to ensure any arrangement is consistent with the ICC's ongoing broadcasting agreement with ESPN STAR Sports governing multi-team events.

"Specifics, such as dates for the tournament and which teams might take part, were not discussed at the ICC Board meeting.

"The key is to achieve a result that is in the best interests of the game as a whole and, to that end, discussions will continue ahead of the ICC Board's next meeting, set to take place in Dubai in late October."