Sir Allen Stanford - file

london (cmc)

Any hopes that the England & Wales Cricket Board would scupper its relationship with Sir Allen Stanford and the Twenty20 Super Series he conceptualised have been dashed.

David Collier, the chief executive officer of the ECB, will not end its five-year deal with the Stanford to stage the Super Series, and he rejected claims that last week's first instalment of the event was an embarrassment.

"I don't think it'd be appropriate to pull out at this stage," he commented on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme.

"It's only right and proper we go through a review and learn the lessons and say what it is we can improve."

Dogged by controversy

The first Stanford Super Series was dogged by controversy from the outset, as many people believed it was all a gimmick.

Many scoffed at the idea of Stanford throwing US $20 million at the Twenty20 match between a Stanford Superstars - practically a West Indies all-star side - and an England national side at his ground in Antigua.

It almost never got off the ground, after Digicel, the principal sponsor of West Indies cricket, filed a lawsuit against the West Indies Board for sanctioning the match in contravention of the standing agreement between them which provided them with sweeping sponsorship rights and privileges.

When the matches started, the Super Series was further marred by complaints about the slow and low nature of the pitch, the sluggishness of the outfield, and the height of the floodlights at the ground.

Stomach virus

A stomach virus that temporarily struck down four England players was also a concern, but this was all topped by two incidents that hit home directly at the organiser himself.

Taking one of his customary trips around the ground to greet and meet fans - with television camera crew in tow -the image of Stanford surrounded by a group of attractive women, one on his knee, drew the ire of his detractors.

To add fuel to the fire, the women happened to be wives and girlfriends of the England players, and the one on his knee was the pregnant wife of Matt Prior, the England 'keeper who was doing duty for England on the field at the time.

No idea

Stanford said he had no idea who they were, and subsequently apologised to Prior and England captain, Kevin Pietersen, who also took umbrage with the American business tycoon un-welcomed intrusions into his side's dressing room during match time.

"We have still to go through a full review, and I think there are areas we would wish to discuss," Collier said.

"But the benefit to cricket, particularly in the Caribbean, and to our own community sport, should not be underestimated at the time of a global recession.

"Everybody is going to be struggling to raise funds for a number of years, and I think we've achieved some very major advances in our community sport. We mustn't let that wither on the vine. We must continue to fund that."

The Superstars conquered England by 10 wickets and the 11 playing members pocketed US$1 million apiece, another US$1 million was shared between six reserves, and a further US$1 million was split between the management team which included manager Lance Gibbs and head coach Eldine Baptiste.