INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL (ICC) members have expressed concern about the planned mega-million dollar 20/20 match by Sir Allen Stanford.

At a recent ICC board meeting, member countries asked the ICC to act as an intermediary and help manage discussions between Sir Allen and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Sir Allen announced in Antigua last week that he would be inviting four leading international teams - Australia, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa - to play a series of matches, culminating with the winners taking on a Caribbean Super-Stars team for a winner-take-all US$20 million showdown next June.

Potential benefits

"The members recognise the potential benefits of the tournament for the development of cricket in the West Indies," ICC chief executive officer Malcolm Speed said yesterday.

"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 Programme in terms of both player workload and the existing cap on Twenty20 Internationals."

Excluding ICC events, each team is limited to two matches per series, three per home season and seven per year.

Under the structure proposed by Stanford, one of the teams will play

a maximum three matches over

an eight-day period.

ICC member countries also want to ensure any arrangement is consistent with the ICC's ongoing broadcasting agreement with ESPN STAR Sports governing multi-team events.

In announcing plans for the match,

Sir Allen told reporters at his Sticky Wicket Restaurant in Antigua that there were still issues to be resolved with the WICB, the ICC and ESPN.

"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," Speed said. (HG/Cricinfo)

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