Tony Becca, Contributor
The Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament began in Antigua yesterday, and for the next month or so, until February 24, the Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge, on the outskirts of St. John's and next to the V. C. Bird International Airport, the home of the Sticky Wicket restaurant, part of the jewel in Antigua, will be buzzing with excitement.
Last year, there were 19 teams. This year, however, it will be 20 teams, including the US Virgin Islands, and they will play 19 matches with the winners, at the end, pocketing one million US dollars and the runners-up US$500,000.
Money and entertainment
And, apart from the gift of some US$280,000 plus airfares, accom-modation and meals to the national association of each participating team,before the final comes around, there will be US$25,000 for each Man of the Match with US$10,000 going to the player who comes up with the play of the match for each match.
As impressive and attractive as those cash prizes and incentives are, however, there will be much more.
Apart from the ball racing away to the boundary and sailing over it, apart from the fielders running around like 100 metres sprinters, throwing themselves to the ground, flying through the air, and hurriedly throwing the ball to the wicket-keeper or to the non-striker's end, and apart from the pyrotechnic display, with Chickie and his hi-fi present, and so, too, the likes of Beenie Man, Claudette Peters, the Iron Band, Machel Montano, Allison Hinds, Patrice Roberts and Rupee, there will be entertainment galore - no question about that.
However, there is one question that many are asking and it is this: Is the Stanford 20/20, regardless of all the money, good for West Indies cricket?
On the surface, it does not seem so, and definitely so if being good for West Indies cricket means developing West Indies cricket to the extent where it will be back to where it was once upon a time.
Based on its urgency, 20/20 cricket is all about fun and excitement and nothing else, and that is why there is the need to support it with dancehall music and dancehall personalities.
Based on some of the strokes attempted, 20/20 cricket is disastrous when it comes to the art of batting - of learning to bat, and with accuracy being so important in any form of the game.
Although it is not as bad, it is the same with bowling where such intricacies as swing and spin, not to mention flight, are forgotten in the fight against being hit into the stands.
On top of all that is the fact that the money, the prize money and the incentives, are so good that there are players, definitely so and understandably so, who, if they were forced to make a choice, would opt to play in the Stanford 20/20 instead of the Carib Beer Series (the regional tournament of four-day matches that leads to selection on the West Indies team)
Dangerous deal
That is dangerous, and regardless of the deal they have made, regardless of the money they got for making the deal, it is as dangerous as the West Indies Board stopping its premier competition, the Carib Beer Series, for five weeks in order to facilitate the Stanford 20/20.
The board, it appears, and may be because it needs the money, seems to have agreed that the poor Carib Beer Series with its first prize of US$12,500 for the Carib Beer Cup and US$5,000 for the Challenge Trophy is second to the rich Stanford 20/20, and in the opinion of many, have sold its soul for a few dollars.
Number two, or number three, should also follow number one - not vice versa.
On the other hand, however, there is good in 20/20 cricket, and in the long run, over time, the Stanford 20/20 can be good for West Indies cricket.
Sweet version of game
Whether one is a purist or not, 20/20, like Test cricket, is a game of bat and ball, an how it happens may be unorthodox, and even though some may not like how it happens, the sound of bat hitting ball is just sweet in any version.
On top of that, 20/20 is fast and exciting, it is right up the street of some women and some children, and who to tell, if, along with the music, it attracts them to the game and gets them through the gate, it may very well attract them to the longer version of the game, to the more sophisticated version of the game, it may get them through the gate, and in time it may convert them.
The money - as lop-sided as it may seem now, as lop-sided as it is now - also may be the reason why the Stanford 20/20 may be good for West Indies cricket.
With cricket, club cricket and first-class cricket in the West Indies paying nothing worthwhile to the players, with less and less youngsters playing the game because of that, the money that is available through prizes and incentives and as members of one of Stanford's professional teams may attract more youngsters, may get more youngsters playing the game, and that could, should, and would be great for West Indies cricket.
Underline his love
In some respects the Stanford 20/20 is not good for West Indies cricket. In other respects, however, it is good for West Indies cricket, and in the interest of West Indies cricket, the hope is that it will not be too long before the board and Allen Stanford - who says he loves the people of the West Indies, who says he loves West Indies cricket, and who says he has a passion for West Indies cricket and would like to see it return to the days of glory - can come together, can get together, and can work together.
It would be good, for example, if in underlining his love for West Indies cricket, Stanford would use some of his money, some of the millions of dollars now in the 20/20, and some of the US$20 million he plans to provide as the first prize for a match between his All-Stars team and three inter-national teams, not to increase the first prize money for the regional four-day competition to a respectable figure - to even what one of the players on the winning team in the Stanford 20/20 will get, but to assist in funding a pro-league in the West Indies.
