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The 2008 Stanford Super Series was a cricket tournament sponsored by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford. The tournament was played between 25 October – 1 November consisting of 5 warm-up matches and a US$20 million for the grand finale. This final match was played between the Stanford Superstars and England. Before it began, the tournament was threatened with cancellation due to a row between Digicel, the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) main sponsor, and Stanford. Digicel argued that it should get sponsorship rights because it is WICB's sponsorship rights holder and that the tournament was officially sanctioned by the WICB.
| Administrator(s) | West Indies Cricket Board and Allen Stanford |
|---|---|
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| Tournament format(s) | One-off match with warm-up matches |
| Host(s) |  Antigua and Barbuda |
| Champions | Stanford Superstars |
| Participants | 4 |
| Matches | 6 |
| Most runs | Andre Fletcher (147) |
| Most wickets | Sherwin Ganga (6) |
All 2008 Super Series matches took place at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua, and started at 5:30 pm local time (9:30 pm in the United Kingdom). All games were aired on Sky Sports in the UK.[1]
Qualification
editThe Stanford Superstars was a squad selected from the best players in the Stanford 20/20 competition. England competed in the first year of a five-year contract to be involved in the tournament. Trinidad and Tobago qualified as the winners of the Stanford 20/20 whilst Middlesex Crusaders qualified as winners of the Twenty20 Cup in England and Wales.
Summary
editThe tournament was seen to have been commenced successfully, though pitch conditions meant that its opening matches were low-scoring.[2] Criticism was also levelled at the floodlights in the Antigua pitch, which were low enough to obstruct the vision of fielding players, with Middlesex captain Shaun Udal stating "I have not known a ground where the visibility is as bad".[3] The behaviour of organiser Allen Stanford was also questioned, particularly after he offended a number of England players by acting flirtatiously with their wives during a match, actions for which he later apologised[4] The England team was later hit by a stomach bug, leading Kevin Pietersen to declare that he was looking forward to the tournament's completion.[5] Before the tournament ended, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that they would be reviewing the five-year contract that they had signed with Stanford, bringing into question their participation in future tournaments[6]
However, the Trinidad and Tobago v England game was described as 'thrilling'.[7] The tournament received a large amount of media coverage whilst it was extremely popular with fans in the West Indies.[8] Commentators were generally positive about the success of the tournament within its host venue, with Jonathan Agnew claiming that it was organised significantly better than the previous World Cup, also held in the West Indies.[9]
Matches
editExhibition Matches
editTrans-Atlantic Twenty20 Champions Cup
edit$20 million match
editSquads
edit2008 Stanford SuperStars
editOn 14 August 2008, the All-Stars selection panel, which was led by cricketing legend Sir Viv Richards, and which included fellow West Indies cricketing luminaries as Sir Everton Weekes, Curtly Ambrose, Lance Gibbs, Richie Richardson, Andy Roberts and Courtney Walsh, announced 17 players who would play under the Stanford SuperStars colours in the Super Series.[10]
Chris Gayle (c)
Daren Powell
Jerome Taylor
Sylvester Joseph (Vice-captain)
Chad Hampson
Dave Mohammed
Kieron Pollard
Rayad Emrit
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Lennox Cush
Andre Fletcher
Sulieman Benn
Lionel Baker
Lindon James
Support Staff:
Coach, Head: Eldine Baptiste
Coach, Asst: Roger Harper
Coach, Fielding: Julien Fountain
Coach, Manager: Cardigan Connor
Analyst: Robin Singh
Trainer: Hector Martinez
Physiotherapist: Kim Jackson
Physiotherapist Julio Gonsalves
Physical Therapist: Virgil Browne
(Dwayne Bravo (injury), and Xavier Marshall (failed drug test)[11] were named to the initial team under the initial selection procedures, but withdrew before the Series was played. Darren Sammy 
and Travis Dowlin were named to replace them in the squad.[12])
2008 English squad
editOn 9 September 2008, three weeks after the Superstars squad was named, the England Cricket Board announced their 15-man squad for the 2008 Super Series.[13]
Kevin Pietersen, Hampshire, (captain)
James Anderson, Lancashire
Ian Bell, Warwickshire
Ravi Bopara, Essex
Stuart Broad, Nottinghamshire
Paul Collingwood, Durham
Alastair Cook, Essex
Andrew Flintoff, Lancashire
Stephen Harmison, Durham
Samit Patel, Nottinghamshire
Matt Prior, Sussex
Owais Shah, Middlesex
Graeme Swann, Nottinghamshire
Ryan Sidebottom, Nottinghamshire
Luke Wright, Sussex
2008 Trinidad and Tobago squad
editRishi Bachan
Samuel Badree
Darren Bravo
Kevon Cooper
Daron Cruickshank
Daren Ganga (captain)
Sherwin Ganga
Justin Guillen
Amit Jaggernauth
Richard Kelly
William Perkins
Denesh Ramdin
Ravi Rampaul
Lendl Simmons
Navin Stewart
2008 Middlesex squad
editNeil Carter
Neil Dexter
Steven Finn
Billy Godleman
Tyron Henderson
Ed Joyce
Murali Kartik
Dawid Malan
Eoin Morgan
Tim Murtagh
David Nash
Alan Richardson
Ben Scott
Andrew Strauss
Shaun Udal (captain)
Commercial dispute
editDigicel, who sponsored the West Indies Cricket Board, filed suit to halt the Stanford Super Series. They claimed that due to their deal with the West Indies Cricket Board, that they were due certain advertising and broadcasting rights that were not being granted to them. The response from the West Indies Board, and from the representatives of the Super Series was that the Stanford Superstars were an unofficial team, and thus the Digicel agreement did not come into play. Digicel won the suit, in front of the High Court in London, England. However, they later reached a deal with Stanford Super Series officials, that allowed the tournament to continue for at least three years.[14]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Stanford Super Series Schedule – dates, venues, times and coverage". Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ "Dexter rues poor Antigua wicket". 29 October 2008.
- ^ "Cricket365 Stanford 20/20 –". Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
- ^ "Stanford apology to England stars". 28 October 2008.
- ^ "Pietersen 'wants the week to end'". 29 October 2008.
- ^ "ECB plans Stanford Series review". 29 October 2008.
- ^ "England hold on for one-run thriller".
- ^ "England humbled by West Indies passion in Stanford Super Series".
- ^ "Jonathan Agnew column". 2 November 2008.
- ^ "Stanford Superstars squad named". www.ecb.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008.
- ^ "Xavier Marshall and Willett test positive".
- ^ "Sammy gets late Stanford call-up". 19 September 2008.
- ^ "Stanford Series and India ODI squad named; central contracts awarded – Stanford Super Series – England – News – ECB". Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ "No change in Stanford schedule".