Story England in India 2008-***Indians off to a Steady Start***

[shantanu_rooney]

England in India 2008-***Sky Sports Cricket Chat - First Ball***

The Stanford Super Series is a yearly series of Twenty20 cricket matches, sponsored by Sir Allen Stanford. The main game of the Series pits the English national cricket team against an all-star team from the Caribbean, called the Stanford Superstars. The prize money awarded in the tournament is winner-take-all; the players for the winning team in the yearly game take home the majority of the $20 million prize money, the losing players do not earn anything.

Creation

Sir Allen Stanford proposed emphasizing Twenty20 cricket as a way to promote cricket in the West Indies. He created the Stanford 20/20, a yearly tournament featuring teams from the island nations that made up the West Indies.

In 2008, he looked to expand the tournament, and decided to feature a high stakes game featuring the best players in the West Indies versus an international team. Stanford initially looked to sign a deal with India, who were in the process of launching the highly successful first year of the Twenty20 league, the Indian Premier League. When that deal fell through, Stanford signed a five year deal with the England Cricket Board to host a series of US$20 million, winner-take-all matches, worth $100 million in total.

Prize Money

The $20 million prize is split as follows: Each of the 11 players on the winning team who play in the championship game will take home $1 million. Another $1 million will be split amongst the players who were selected for the winning team, but did not play in the championship game; $1 million will go to the management team, and the remaining $7 million will be split between the English Cricket Board and the West Indies Cricket Board.

2008 Super Series schedule

All 2008 Super Series matches will take place at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua.

The schedule was announced as follows:

October 25 Stanford Superstars v Trinidad and Tobago (Stanford 20/20 champions)
October 26 England v Middlesex (English Twenty20 Cup Champions)
October 27 Trinidad and Tobago v Middlesex
October 28 England v Trinidad and Tobago
October 30 Stanford Superstars v Middlesex
October 31 Legends Beach Cricket
November 1 Stanford Superstars v England ($20 million, winner-take all)

All games will be aired on Sky Sports in the UK.

Sponsorships

Stanford Super Series will be telecasted in United Kingdom and other parts of the world live by Sky Sports. The latest news and other things related to Stanford Super Series will be brought by BBC Cricket.

 

[Jakester1288]

Nice start, looking forward to this.

 

[westindies2007]

wow another Stanford game, i can't wait.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Page last updated at 11:13 GMT, Friday, 26 September 2008 12:13 UK
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Pietersen on Money and Twenty 20 Cricket

Kevin Pietersen to BBC reporter

Ahead of the squad selection for the upcoming Stanford Super Series on Saturday, Kevin Pietersen
believes that Twenty20 could usurp 50-over cricket as the sport's principal format of limited-over
cricket.

"I think it [Twenty20] will be the new form of one-day cricket for sure," Pietersen said at a press
conference at London, the venue for tomorrow's selection. "I reckon in the next couple of years 50
overs is probably going to be something of the past."

His comments were prompted by the reaction to Allen Stanford's winner-takes-all match in Antigua in
a month. Each member of the winning team will take home US$1m (£500,000) but Pietersen, for all
his excitement at potentially winning such vast sums of money, said that the Indian Premier League
also had a lot to offer.

"Will the Stanford deal make it more or less likely I will go to the IPL? That Stanford game, I see
it as an absolute bonus for an England player," he said. "Allen Stanford could have chosen Australia,
India, Pakistan, New Zealand, anybody to take part. I see it as an absolute bonus that we've been
picked. It is very fortunate for the players and the management and for cricket in England.

"It will be a great occasion but it is a one-off fixture this year and if we lose, we come home with
a tour fee. In contrast, the IPL money is guaranteed in terms of what you do.

"The Stanford game we will treat with as high a regard as we can but, if we walk away having lost,
then we can say it was just a bonus because he could have chosen anybody."

Pietersen added: "Am I happy with the winner-takes-all situation? There is no point in building it up
to be this absolutely incredible game where you have to win. You are guaranteed to lose then. I play
like I play every single day. If you play well, play great cricket, entertain, average 50 in forms of
the game, your bank balance looks after itself.

"You can't think this is a game that you have to make sure you win to set yourself up for life. No, if
you do well over a 10-year period playing for England right now, you will be financially sorted."

Pietersen reiterated just how much Twenty20 had changed in its brief, but unmissable, five-year life.

"When it first came in, everyone thought it was just something to go and have some fun with and
entertain. But the way the people played it, the way people did slog, the way people have entertained
has turned it into a huge, huge business now," he said.

"As we've seen by the tournament in India, by what is happening in this month, and the World Cup in
England next year, it is a totally different kettle of fish now. I haven't played enough of it to change
anything in terms of the way I play. But mentally I have. if I was a fast bowler I would be in the nets
every single day, all day perfecting the art of the yorker.

"I'd make sure I was the best yorker bowler in the world and then my price would just go through the roof,
to know that a captain can turn to you and say 'bowl me six yorkers, go for six runs'."​

 

[westindies2007]

Gayle and his Crew will give you a hard time Pietersen, that's all i know

 

[Ayub 95]

Nice start mate KUTGW

 

[khalek]

Great start mate, keep it up

 

[thesweepmaster]

Superb start mate, looking forward to this!

Great work mate, keep it up!

 

[JD10]

nice start mate

 

[navin-boss]

kewl update mate..Looking forward!

 

[Amiya]

Great start... KUTGW

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Page last updated at 12:13 GMT, Saturday, 27 September 2008 13:13 UK
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Stanford SuperStars name 17-man Squad

Chris Gayle to Lead Stanford SuperStars

The 17 players who will form the Stanford Superstars Twenty20 squad and
compete for US$20 million in the winner-takes-all match against England
on November 1 have been named. The squad includes Chris Gayle, Shivnarine
Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, as well as notable
performers from the Stanford Twenty20 domestic tournament.

"We [the Stanford Superstars selection panel] believe this squad is very
capable of doing justice to their selection to the Stanford Superstars
squad to face England for the unprecedented purse of US$20million,"
Viv Richards, the chairman of the selection panel, said.

"There are several familiar faces in this Stanford Superstars squad, but
there are some exciting new additions such as Lindon James, Lionel Baker
and Chad Hampson. This was due to the fact that there were some high
quality performances from these individuals in the Stanford 20/20
Tournaments and they were also very impressive in the just concluded
Stanford Superstars camp."

Thirty one out of 32 probables participated in a two-week camp in Antigua.
Chanderpaul was excused because of his county commitments with Durham but
was eligible for selection. The 17 players were presented with contracts
and have 14 days to confirm their participation in the tournament.

The selection panel comprising Richards, Everton Weekes, Curtly Ambrose,
Lance Gibbs, Richie Richardson, Andy Roberts and Courtney Walsh will meet
at a later date to select the captain and vice captain.

Squad: Chris Gayle(c), Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Lennox Cush,
Dwayne Brovo, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Lionel Baker, Chad Hampson,
Lindon James, Sylvester Joseph, Dave Mohammed, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell,
Xavier Marshall, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.​

 

[shefellover93]

great start to the story

 

[saladguy]

Shan, what are you playing this on?

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Shan, what are you playing this on?

Well not decided yet. Maybe Cricket 05 or Cricket 07.