Cricket revolution:The Stanford 20/20 Tournament

The Stanford 20/20 Tournament is a single elimination knockout cricket competition featuring teams from several Caribbean territories vying for the top spot. Twenty-one (21) teams will compete in the 2008 Tournament. Created by Antiguan financier Sir Allen Stanford, the inaugural Tournament took place in July/August 2006 with Guyana emerging as the Stanford 20/20 Champions.

The uniqueness of the Stanford 20/20 lies in the prize money that is awarded throughout the Tournament. Sir Allen is adamant in his belief that excellence should be rewarded and the prize structure for the competition reflects this. The Stanford 20/20 has the largest purse of any domestic cricket Tournament in the world.

Tournament Winners: US$1 Million to Team and US$200,000 for their Cricket Board for development;
Tournament Runners-up: US$500,000 to Team and US$100,000 for their Cricket Board for development;
Man of the Match in Final Match: US$100,000;
Play of the Match in Final Match: US$25,000;
Man of the Match for all qualifying matches: US$25,000;
Play of the Match for all qualifying matches: US$10,000;
Total Prize Money to be awarded: US$1, 960,000

Stanford has enlisted the support of 14 cricket legends who act as ambassadors for the tournament, advancing the philosophy behind the event, assisting with the promotion of the competition throughout the region and supporting the participating countries. Along with Sir Allen and noted Montserrat judge Ken Allen, these men make up the Stanford 20/20 Board of Directors. They are Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Garfield Sobers, Rev. Wes Hall, Lance Gibbs, Andy Roberts, Sir Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Desmond Haynes, Courtney Walsh, Gordon Greenidge, Joel Garner, Richie Richardson, Ian Bishop and Curtly Ambrose.

Support for Regional Cricket DevelopmentTo create an atmosphere for each of the nations to excel in the Tournament and to ensure their long-term development, Sir Allen invested more than US$6 million in support funding to the 19 countries which participated in the first Tournament in 2006.

Each country's governing cricket body initially receives US$280,000. US$100,000 of these funds is for capital investment and to be used for facilities and infrastructure improvement, practice fields and other cricket equipment. US$120,000 is provided for coaches and players support and development (US$10,000 monthly) and US$60,000 for maintenance of facilities and equipment (US$5,000 monthly).

Sir Allen has committed to continuing the monthly funding of US$15,000 to the countries over the next three years. He has also promised a further investment of US$100 million over the same period, US$20 Million of which will go directly into grass roots cricket throughout the Caribbean region