The Stanford 20/20 was a short-lived cricket tournament in the Caribbean island of Antigua. It was held first in July and August 2006 in the West Indies at the Stanford Cricket Ground, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, and then again in the same place in 2008. It was a variety of the popular Twenty20 format, which had been first introduced in English cricket in 2003. The tournament was separate to the Stanford Super Series, which was held in late 2008.
 | |
| Countries |  West Indies |
|---|---|
| Format | Twenty20 |
| First edition | 2006 |
| Latest edition | 2008 |
| Tournament format | Knockout |
| Number of teams | 19 (2006), 21 (2008) |
| Current champion |  Trinidad & Tobago |
| Qualification | Stanford Super Series |
The tournament was privately devised and funded by wealthy American businessman Allen Stanford, who held Antiguan dual nationality.[1] It has been alleged that Stanford's creation of the tournament was a method of laundering his income from the fraudulent business schemes for which he is now serving a lengthy penal sentence in the USA.
19 teams took part in the inaugural knock-out tournament and 20 teams took part in the second tournament (although 21 teams were originally scheduled to take part). The 2008 season was part of the official calendar of the WICB.[2]
2006 tournament
editIn 2006 a total of 16 teams was in the competition and the final was played between Guyana led by Ramnaresh Sarwan and Trinidad led by Daren Ganga, And what a trilling final it was, one where Guyana took the trophy and 1 Million USD home, Travis Dowlin was an instrumental part of them winning scoring 80 from 60 but had to retire hurt and Ramnaresh Sarwan saw them to the finish line with his 49 from 40. This was the beginning of T20 cricket in the West Indies.
Qualifying matches
edit
Bracket
edit| Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
 Guyana
| 116/2 | ||||||||||||||
 Montserrat
| 115/8 | Guyana
| 168/7 | ||||||||||||
 Jamaica
| 75/1 | Jamaica
| 163/6 | ||||||||||||
 Bermuda
| 74 | Guyana
| 160/4 | ||||||||||||
 Grenada
| 84/4 | Grenada
| 158/8 | ||||||||||||
 Dominica
| 83 | Grenada (D/L)
| 70/3 | ||||||||||||
 St Vincent
| 96/5 | St Vincent
| 122/7 | ||||||||||||
 United States Virgin Islands
| 92 | Guyana
| 176/5 | ||||||||||||
 Nevis
| 104/3 | Trinidad and Tobago
| 175/6 | ||||||||||||
 St Kitts
| 100 | Nevis
| 213/3 | ||||||||||||
 Antigua
| 146/9 | Antigua
| 170/9 | ||||||||||||
 St Lucia
| 98/9 | Nevis
| 136/9 | ||||||||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago
| 93/2 | Trinidad and Tobago
| 210/6 | ||||||||||||
 Cayman Islands
| 92 | Trinidad and Tobago
| 142/9 | ||||||||||||
 Barbados
| 141/6 | Barbados
| 96 | ||||||||||||
 Anguilla
| 103/7 | ||||||||||||||
2008 tournament
editInitially it was planned to include two additional teams from the region in the 2008 competition, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands, increasing the number of teams participating to twenty-one (21).[3]
However, since the application required by US citizens (such as Stanford himself) and organisations to interact with the island under the United States embargo against Cuba was rejected, Sint Maarten (Cuba's destined opponent in the preliminary round) received a bye.[4]
Preliminary matches
edit
- Cuba were barred from participating in the tournament; St Maarten received a bye to the next round
Brackets
edit| Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| St Vincent and the Grenadines
| 168/4 | ||||||||||||||
 Sint Maarten
| 158/6 | St Vincent and the Grenadines
| 107/8 | ||||||||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago
| 106/2 | Trinidad and Tobago
| 166/7 | ||||||||||||
| St Lucia
| 105/9 | Trinidad and Tobago
| 120 | ||||||||||||
| Grenada
| 177/6 | Barbados
| 115/6 | ||||||||||||
| Anguilla
| 161/4 | Grenada
| 98 | ||||||||||||
| Barbados
| 103/8 | Barbados
| 152/4 | ||||||||||||
| Dominica
| 77 | Trinidad and Tobago
| 94/1 | ||||||||||||
| Jamaica
| 191/4 | Jamaica
| 93 | ||||||||||||
 Bahamas
| 73/7 | Jamaica
| 123/2 | ||||||||||||
| Nevis
| 185/6 | Nevis
| 121/8 | ||||||||||||
| Montserrat
| 111 | Jamaica
| 143/7 | ||||||||||||
| Antigua
| 153/8 | Guyana
| 142/8 | ||||||||||||
| United States Virgin Islands
| 131/6 | Antigua
| 156/9 | ||||||||||||
| Guyana
| 63/1 | Guyana
| 146/9 | ||||||||||||
| Bermuda
| 62/9 | ||||||||||||||
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Billionaire reveals Windies plan, BBC Sport, 4 October 2005
- ^ "WICB and Stanford agree five-year deal". cricinfo.com.
- ^ Stanford 20/20 has two new teams, The Bajan Reporter, 9 October 2007.
- ^ Cuba denied participation in Stanford 20/20, Cricinfo's Beyond the Test World, retrieved 19 December 2007