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In a hangar adjacent to the smart reception area in his aviation centre on Antigua, close to one of his homes and his own ground on the edge of the airport, Sir Allen Stanford houses his Global Express aeroplane, which, in addition to his six corporate jets, is how he conducts his many business deals around the world. The crisis in the financial markets has been all consuming these past weeks and has taken him to parts of the world where cricket is far from the passion that it is in the Caribbean. Rest assured, though, that no detail of the tournament in his name that begins this Saturday and culminates in the $20 million winner-takes-all match between his Superstars and England on November 1 will have escaped him. A tycoon who looks initially at the smaller details in a bank or a restaurant, the state of the lavatories and how quickly the receptionist answers the telephone, will not take his eye off the bigger picture.Stanford says he is no Kerry Packer: his motive is to have some fun. What he has already achieved is recognition way beyond his native Texas and the Caribbean, where he has been based for the past 26 years. Hence he stresses that his ground, quaintly English in design and purposefully contrasting with the concrete edifices that now predominate in the region, is particularly welcoming for women and children and that musical instruments and flags will not be banned this coming week. His is a batsman’s game and the five pitches being prepared for the tournament will have little grass left on them: there will be sixes galore and to that end the windows around the ground have been strengthened against both flying balls and the kind of hurricane which hit the island on October 15. Stanford takes an especial pride in the ‘Sticky Wicket’ restaurant at square leg – “a sort of Hard Rock Café” as he puts it – which has been renovated and where meals can be obtained as part of that very American all-inclusive ticket which can be obtained for his matches. A six star hotel is to be built amid the complex, which already features one of his banks. The great names of West Indies cricket are honoured through a number of plaques and pictures – even Michael Holding, who has disassociated himself from the project.Stanford is the epitome of the restless tycoon: a backslapping, hand-grabbing, mind-whirring, dollar-consumed figure who is constantly on the move. By contrast, the ‘Stanford Legends’ by his side are measured and even somewhat subservient. One is Sir Everton Weekes and the other Sir Viv Richards. On the outfield, Lance Gibbs has been conducting the Superstars’ fielding practice. One reason why Stanford’s annual tournaments are a success is because he has obtained the support of the great names of West Indies cricket. Thus, innovation is neatly packaged with tradition. There is no whiff of vulgarity in the air. The whole setting would not look out of place at the Bath festival.There is no question, either, that the people of Antigua are keenly anticipating this week-long fiesta – not least because tourism is down in the wake of the murder of the British honeymoon couple, Benjamin and Catherine Mullany, and because of the recession. But what of the great players? “I have nothing against change so long as Test cricket can keep going,” said Weekes. “This is mostly entertainment, although I did not think it would come to the stage at which a chap becomes a millionaire overnight. If you are a good Test cricketer, you should be able to play in the limited overs game.” Richards, who is taken with “the family orientated homeliness and friendliness” at the ground, believes Stanford has given the game in the Caribbean “a 100 per cent lift.” He himself would have enjoyed playing Twenty20, he said, “cutting loose as quickly as possible.” He believes that Kevin Pietersen can become “a generally great player” and that England were right to make him captain. He is less complimentary about the new grounds in the Caribbean and the price of Test match tickets. As West Indies Board’s stock falls, so Stanford’s rises.Around 200 media representatives plus photographers will be attending the tournament. No wonder Stanford believes that the future of the game lies in the Twenty20 format, although, interestingly enough, he will be experiencing Test cricket for the first time when he watches the Ashes series in England next summer. His deal involving reciprocal tournaments with the ECB runs for five years and, although he says he has no wish to buy a ground in England or develop the game in the United States, businessmen such as him always have the capacity for surprise. Stanford is certain that the tournament will be a success: one school of thought on the island is that he will not let any player go home empty handed, win or lose. That would be another masterstroke of public relations, at which he is adept.

Pakistan have named Shoaib Akhtar in the 15-man squad for the four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Canada, but there was no room for Mohammad Yousuf following problems over his Canadian visa.”We have included Akhtar after clearance from the PCB and hope that he delivers the goods in the tournament,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said. Akhtar, 33, was selected after the board softened its stance on a demand he pay an outstanding fine of Rs 7 million (approx US$105,000) for his criticism of not being awarded a central contract. He was initially banned by the PCB for five years, but the sentence had been reduced to 18 months by an appellate tribunal in June.Yousuf, who was not part of Pakistan’s squad for the ICC World Twenty20 last year, was a late inclusion among the probables for the Toronto tournament. He was unimpressive in his first two games in Pakistan’s ongoing domestic Twenty20 tournament, scoring 15 runs, but Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, said he would have been included if not for the problems over his visa.The squad includes allrounders Shahid Afridi, whose form has been woeful of late, and Fawad Alam, who performed well on the Academy tour to Zimbabwe and Kenya. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal returns after being dropped for the Asia Cup in June-July, replacing Sarfraz Ahmed. Rookie fast bowler Anwar Ali, 23, and opener Shoaib Khan have also earned maiden call-ups. Khalid Latif, an opener who played one ODI against Zimbabwe in the home series in January, gets a look-in.

Munaf Patel, the Indian fast bowler, has been fined 75% of his match fee for a breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Dambulla.Munaf was found guilty of a Level 2 offence by match referee Chris Broad at a hearing following the conclusion of the match which India won by three wickets. Munaf was found to have breached clause 2.8 of the Code which refers to “using language that is obscene, offensive or of a seriously insulting nature to another player, umpire, referee, team official or spectator.”The incident related to remarks made by the player to umpire Gamini Silva after the official turned down an lbw appeal. During the course of the hearing Munaf pleaded not guilty to the charge but did admit to speaking aggressively to the umpire.”I accept that in international cricket there is a lot of passion but that does not excuse players talking back to umpires in an aggressive manner, as happened in this case,” Broad said. “That is unacceptable and I hope this decision and the fine imposed demonstrates that fact.”The charge was laid by the four umpires on duty, Gamini Silva and Billy Doctrove, third official Tyron Wijewardena and fourth umpire RD Kottahachchi. The hearing was attended by Silva, Doctrove and Wijewardena, the player, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain, and Indian team manager Sanjay Desai.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the newly-elected president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has appealed to the BCCI not to let its fractious relationship with him affect his state association. Dalmiya has had a long-standing feud with the current BCCI administration, when he was arrested and later released on bail on charges of embezzlement relating to the 1996 World Cup.Dalmiya, a former president of both the ICC and the BCCI, defeated the incumbent, Prasun Mukherjee, to secure a seat on the Indian board on Tuesday.”There are two facades of cricket administration – collective and individual. At the collective level, the CAB doesn’t deserve to suffer because of my relationship with the board,” Dalmiya told the . “My message to them (BCCI) is – spare the CAB. Leave the state association alone. As the CAB president, I believe all state associations should cooperate with and listen to the board. But at an individual level, they are welcome to fight me. It is nothing new to me anyway.”After being ousted from the BCCI in 2006, he had an 18-month layoff from cricket administration, but Dalmiya said the determination to clear his name of all charges prompted him to contest the elections.”A lot of charges were made against me, one after another,” he said. “They (BCCI) tried to malign me with false charges. I had two options – either fight it out, or plain give up. I made up my mind that I would fight it out and get my name cleared of all those charges. That’s because what was at stake was not just my own name, but the image and standing of my family members, and all my business associates.”Now back at the helm, Dalmiya said his aim was to improve the standard of Bengal cricket, after a poor Ranji season.”We all know Bengal lost its Elite Group status in the Ranji Trophy last season. So I have to work out things to pull Bengal out of the Plate Division. For this, I have specific plans in mind but I want to discuss them with the CAB working committee first.”

Midlands/West/Wales Division

Warwickshire assured themselves of a place in the quarter-finals with a four-wicket victory against Somerset at Edgbaston. Jim Troughton hit a Twenty20-best 57 as the home side paced the pursuit perfectly with Ant Botha and Michael Powell completed the job. The end, though, included some confusion as a scoreboard malfunction meant the umpires had to consult the scorers to get the exact requirements. Warwickshire actually conceded their highest total of the season, but Somerset would have been eyeing even more than 173 when Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick gave them a flying start. However, Both and Ian Salisbury produced tight spells of spin as Somerset fell away to 107 for 6. Arul Suppiah and Omari Banks hit hard at the end, yet Warwickshire had enough in the tank to get home.Glamorgan suffered a blow to their qualification hopes, going down to a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat against Gloucestershire at Bristol. William Porterfield, who has opted for his county over his country, guided the chase with 62 off 57 balls. Glamorgan struggled for momentum early in their innings against an impressive spell from the on-loan AJ Harris. He removed Robert Croft and, vitally, Herschelle Gibbs for 3. The middle order tried to rebuild, but couldn’t score at a quick enough rate as Ian Fisher claimed three economical wickets.Worcestershire registered just their second victory of the season with a four-wicket win against Northamptonshire at New Road. They crossed the line with seven balls to spare as Steven Davies hit 23 off nine balls alongside Moeen Ali. Stephen Moore anchored the early part of the chase with 51 off 36 balls. Northamptonshire’s in-form batting order staggered to 31 for 3 against Chris Whelan and Kabir Ali before slumping again to 94 for 6. Andrew Hall led a fight back with 58 off 51 deliveries, adding 55 with his former South Africa team-mate Lance Klusener, who biffed 41 off 21 balls. It gave them something to bowl at but, for once, Hall had an poor day in the field as he conceded 47 runs off 3.5 overs.

North Division

Jeremy Snape ended his professional career on a winning note as Leicestershire final broke their Twenty20 duck for the season with a five-run victory against Nottinghamshire at Grace Road. Snape played his part at the end with two tight overs and the vital wicket of Adam Voges (59), as the visitors watched their quarter-final hopes take a blow. However, the real matchwinner was Jim Allenby who claimed three late wickets to follow an unbeaten 57. Voges was keeping Nottinghamshire’s hopes alive after Nadeem Malik took 4 for 16, but fell with 12 needed. Allenby steadied Leicestershire from 11 for 3 along with Paul Nixon who hit 42.Durham moved to within touching distance of the quarter-finals after blowing away the Yorkshire top order at Chester-le-Street. The eventual margin was 39 runs on the D/L method after rain ended the match 10 overs early. Shaun Pollock, Liam Plunkett and Steve Harmison all impressed, with Harmison especially tough to face in the fading light. Michael Vaughan missed the match after being ordered to rest by England and Yorkshire now need to win both their last two matches to have any chance of progressing. The best batting of the day came from Phil Mustard, who clubbed 49 off 37 balls in Durham’s 162.

South Division

Middlesex bounced back from back-to-back defeats with a tense six-run victory against Kent at Uxbridge. Tyron Henderson showed his expertise at the death as he prevented the hard-hitting Azhar Mahmood from hauling Kent across the line. Shaun Udal was again outstanding, claiming three top-order wickets for just 19 in his four overs including Robert Key caught at long-on for 49. Middlesex recovered from early batting wobbles through a fourth-wicket stand of 94 in 11 overs between Eoin Morgan (64) and Dawid Malan (52 not out). Malan confirmed the promise he has shown during the tournament with his 34-ball innings that included three sixes.Click here for a full report on an extraordinary display by Graham Napier at Chelmsford as Essex took on Sussex.

Alok Kapali’s dazzling 97-ball 115 against India on Saturday could well prove to be the watershed of his career. He couldn’t have chosen a better time to come good after he was recalled to the squad after close to two years as a replacement for the injured Aftab Ahmed in the Kitply Cup earlier this month.Kapali said he was confident coming into the Asia Cup considering his record while playing in Pakistan. “I had made some runs and taken a hat-trick when I was here the last time [in 2003]. I was just at the right place to start all over again,” Kapali told TigerCricket.com. “My late father believed in reincarnation and, from my cricket’s perspective, I hope this is a new beginning also.”He failed to get a berth in the squad during Dav Whatmore’s time as Bangladesh coach, but he blamed the situation on his own form. “I can’t blame Dav or anyone for that. I was not scoring runs and had to accept the fact that I was out of the Bangladesh team. I held no grudges. In fact, I always wished the team well when they were playing,” Kapali said. “When I was out of form, I spoke to coaches and players about what I should be doing. Maybe I tried too many things after listening to them. That did not help at all, and I became a confused cricketer.”Kapali, however, attributed the turn-around in his fortunes to himself. “I identified the weaknesses in my batting myself. There were slight changes I had to make technically,” he said. “Earlier I went across too much early on and that brought about my downfall often. I practised playing with a straight bat and made runs in the National Championship and the Dhaka Premier League this season.”There were two distinct phases in Kapali’s knock. He played with a defensive approach on the way to his first fifty, which came off 65 balls, after which he cut loose, needing only 21 balls more to reach his hundred.”All the while I was thinking of the team score and did not for once look at my score. I planned my innings and followed the team management’s instructions,” he said. “I knew that if I was there after 40 overs then I could play those big shots.”Rather than getting carried away, Kapali was focused on the challenges that lay ahead. “There is so much work to be done. I was out of the national set-up for a long time, almost two years, and now I need to earn my place again. I have to improve my fitness level also as I have not trained in the same pace as the national team. There is a lot of catching up to do.”

Habibul Bashar has been left out of Bangladesh’s 25-member preliminary squad for the Asia Cup in Pakistan. All the players who toured Pakistan last month for a five-match ODI series, and those who were part of the side for the home ODI series against South Africa and Ireland have been included.Bashar, who had led Bangladesh to the Super Eights stage in World Cup in the West Indies last year, was dropped from the ODI side for the tour to Sri Lanka in June, and for the second Test during South Africa’s visit to Bangladesh earlier this year. With the exclusion of Bashar and wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud, and the retirement of Mohammad Rafique, Bangladesh have only three players from the 2004 Asia Cup in the current squad – Mohammad Ashraful, the captain, Alok Kapali and Abdur Razzak.The squad has three players who are yet to represent Bangladesh – Dolar Mahmud, Naeem Islam and Rubel Hossain. Mahmud and Rubel were part of Bangladesh’s Under-19 side for the World Cup in Malaysia. Raqibul Hasan, who was the leading run-getter in List A matches in Bangladesh in the 2007-08 season and made his debut in the recent series against South Africa, finds a place so does Mosharraf Hossain, the left-arm spinner who topped the wicket-takers’ chart for first-class games.Bangladesh suffered a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of Pakistan, and will host India and Pakistan in a preparatory triangular tournament before the Asia Cup. Bangladesh have been grouped alongside Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.Bangladesh preliminary squad: Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, Junaid Siddique, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza, Shahriar Nafees, Nazimuddin, Syed Rasel, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Dhiman Ghosh (wk), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Naeem Islam, Mehrab Hossain jnr, Mosharraf Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Dolar Mahmud, Nazmul Hossain, Nadif Chowdhury, Alok Kapali, Sajidul Islam.

Two newcomers, Andrew Ellis and Brendon Donkers could make their first-class debuts when Canterbury travel to Dunedin to play Otago in their State Championship match starting on Friday.The pair have been included in the 12 named for the match after fast-medium bowler Wade Cornelius was ruled out due to a minor side strain while medium-fast bowler Warren Wisneski’s wife is expecting their second child.Their absence will not greatly diminish the strength of the Canterbury side which will include six New Zealand Cricket-contracted players, Nathan Astle, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Shane Bond, Chris Harris and Chris Cairns.Selection convener Craig Thiele was not surprisingly enthusiastic about the side’s chances.”The experience and maturity of the side will provide a real competitive advantage,” he said.The full team is: Gary Stead (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Brendon Donkers, Andrew Ellis, Chris Harris, Gareth Hopkins, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Michael Papps, Paul Wiseman.

Victoria and New South Wales are hoping they will be able to travel to South Australia to quarantine for two weeks in an attempt to begin their domestic seasons.With the Covid-19 situation in the two states and the associated travel restrictions various options have been on the table, but there is yet to be confirmation that the South Australia option will be viable and on Thursday evening the reported that talks between Cricket Australia and the state government had stalled.If it does come together, the squads would likely be free of quarantine by late October. They would then need at least week to prepare for matches which could involve them traveling to the other open states of Western Australia and Tasmania with the hope of playing up to four Sheffield Shield and five Marsh Cup games before the Big Bash starts in early December.”I think the plan is still for us to quarantine somewhere, and once we’re ‘clean’ so to speak, we’ll travel around and play in different places. But that’s not set in stone,” Victoria head coach Chris Rogers told radio earlier on Thursday. “It looks like we’ll be going to Adelaide, and from there we’ll wait to see when the fixtures come out.Related

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“I think we’re hoping that we go into quarantine not this weekend, the weekend after and then have we’ll have two weeks of quarantine. We’ll probably need another six to seven days of getting the bowlers back up and prepared. We’re probably looking at about four weeks from now.”Victoria had to quarantine before last season’s Sheffield Shield hub in Adelaide and ended up trimming their fixture list due to concern over player workload after the difficult build-up.Speaking to Fox Cricket, New South Wales and Australia offspinner Nathan Lyon said he expected to be heading to Adelaide on Monday.So far there has only been one Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup match played with South Australia facing Western Australia last week. The scheduled Queensland-Tasmania fixture, which had been due to start in Brisbane on Tuesday, was called off shortly before the toss when Tasmania made the swift decision to return home due to Covid cases emerging in the city and concerns of being caught in border closures.There is a significant impact on those players hoping to push their claims for a Test spot. Victoria have Marcus Harris, Will Pucovski and James Pattinson in their ranks while Lyon would hope for plenty of overs for New South Wales. The Queensland postponement means that Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser are yet to start their season.The original domestic fixture lists had to be torn up after the Covid outbreaks in Victoria and New South Wales. The WNCL has been pushed back to start after the WBBL which itself has had the first 20 matches shifted entirely to Tasmania.

AB de Villiers has made himself unavailable for selection for the upcoming Test series in New Zealand in March though he has recovered from his elbow injury, but said that he was not retiring from Test cricket.However, while squashing recent speculation that he was going to give up the longest format, AB de Villiers indicated that his priority was going to be limited-overs cricket in order to play the 2019 World Cup.”That’s a good question. Not yet. I’m not there yet,” de Villiers said in Johannesburg on Tuesday, when asked when he would return to the Test side. “The reason being that I just need to settle things in my head. Over the last few years something has come to mind, which is the fact that we haven’t won a World Cup yet. And for me to make it to the 2019 World Cup, I can’t really be serious in every format.”So I’ve made myself unavailable for the New Zealand Test series. I will be there for the ODIs, and I’m definitely not retiring from Test cricket because I have plans to come back at some stage. For me, for now the most important thing is the 2019 World Cup. I want to make sure we get there. I want to make sure we lift that trophy. Obviously there are other factors that play a role like family and time away from home, but the main reason for me is that World Cup and I feel that if I play all formats all the time, then mentally and physically I won’t be at my best.”Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said de Villiers’ comments were not a surprise because he had been involved in discussions with the batsman. “We’ve given him the latitude of taking time off, of setting himself for the 2019 World Cup. It is very much part of our planning.”We know it’s challenging schedules that all of the players have. What I think is, he is not going to get another opportunity like he currently has with time off. To put it in this fashion – the most he must make of it now [], once he gets back on the treadmill it is all the way through to 2019.”Lorgat said he was confident de Villiers would be available for the Test series in England this summer. “What we’re doing is taking it a series at a time. I am confident that by the time we get towards looking at England and the Champions Trophy, he’ll be fully fit and raring to go. His appetite would have returned because then it would be a fair amount of time he has had. I’m confident England is kind of a series that he would want to be available for.”Earlier on Tuesday, de Villiers told South African radio station that he was “not retiring out of Test cricket.” However, he said he would have to manage his workload in order to be fit for the 2019 World Cup.”My main aim is to get to that 2019 World Cup and I am going to do everything possible to get there. It’s important to play the other formats but mentally and physically I need to be in a good space come the 2019 World Cup and that’s what I am aiming for. I know its still a long way away and it’s all about managing that really well in order for me to get there.”I am going to have to make certain choices. It’s not easy for me. I have always been the go-ahead guy, the team man, who never wants to miss a game for South Africa. But [with] the schedules these days, it’s really tough to play all formats, especially at the age of 32, when most cricketers don’t go past the age of 35. If you do the math, it takes to me to 2019, 2020 at the most. Hopefully by then I will still be fit and be there to lift the trophy with the boys.”AB de Villiers said he would play the T20I against Sri Lanka on January 25•Getty Images

De Villiers said he had recovered from the elbow injury that kept him out of cricket since August last year and hoped to make a comeback in the third T20I against Sri Lanka on January 25.”I’ve had this elbow injury for a while now but I am fully fit again and I am playing in that last T20 in Cape Town on the 25th and then in the ODIs,” de Villiers said. “I am really excited to get going.”The recent speculation over de Villiers’ Test future arose after comments from South Africa’s Test captain Faf du Plesiss and coach Russell Domingo indicated uncertainty over de Villiers’ return to the side.De Villiers, 32, has not played a Test since January 2016, when he was the stand-in captain for Hashim Amla. He took over in the middle of a four-Test series against England, which South Africa lost 2-1 in the midst of discussions over his own workload. De Villiers had spent the early part of the series explaining the need to “keep myself fresh” and “maybe not play all kinds of cricket.”At the end of the series, de Villiers was named permanent Test captain and he accepted the job while fully committing to South Africa. However, he was sidelined with an elbow injury after the Caribbean Premier League in July and, at first, opted for a conservative approach to treatment, which involved rest and rehabilitation rather than surgery. That ruled him out of a two-Test series against New Zealand in August. By October, he had still not recovered and was forced to have surgery, which ruled him out of the home ODIs and an away Test series against Australia. Du Plessis was captain in his absence and led South Africa to series wins in both assignments.De Villiers had still not recovered by December, ahead of the Tests against Sri Lanka at home, and stepped down as Test captain early in the month. Du Plessis was confirmed as his successor and led South Africa to another series victory.