Plans for the world’s richest cricket match in Antigua next month were thrown into disarray when the West Indies Cricket Board lost a dispute with sponsors Digicel in London’s High Court.
As a result of the defeat, the WICB was forced to withdraw its sanction for the $US20 million ($A28.2 million) Twenty20 match between the Stanford Superstars XI and England on November 1.
It has cast doubt on whether the match will go ahead at all.
According to cricket website Cricinfo, the decision means the game will either be called off or the Stanford Superstars side will be greatly weakened by the withdrawal of most of the leading West Indian players.
The WICB had previously agreed to make all their players available to play for Texas billionaire Allen Stanford’s select side.
But Digicel went to the High Court in a bid to establish that, as the official sponsor of the WICB, it enjoyed commercial rights associated with a game that was, in effect, a West Indies XI v England.
The High Court upheld that argument and ruled that the Board would be in breach of its contract with Digicel if it sanctioned the match without granting commercial rights to its sponsor.
The WICB was also ordered to pay costs.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Heartbreak for Scotland and Chris Sole!
When Glenn Maxwell was comprehensively bowled by a sensational delivery from Mark Watt, Scotland seemed on the verge of their greatest victory ever. Needing…
Boy, will England hate seeing that!
It was one of Australia's six drops for the innings as Scotland made 5-180.
While the second one was a little tricky, the Aussie skipper should have taken the other two.
