LONDON (AP):

ENGLISH CRICKET officials have been assured by American billionaire Allen Stanford that their lucrative Twenty20 partnership is not in jeopardy.

Concerns surfaced after Stanford closed his cricket office in Antigua, disbanded his Twenty20 'Board of Legends' and terminated the contracts of the West Indies cricket greats on it.

The Texan funded a winner-take-all US$20 million Twenty20 match between England and a West Indies all-star team in Antigua in October, the first of five annual games worth a total of US$100 million. The all-stars won.

Five-year deal

After speaking to Stanford, the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is confident the five-year deal will be honoured.

"Any issues that exist are clearly issues that exist in the Caribbean and we are not involved," ECB chairman Giles Clarke said yesterday from India. "(Chief executive) David Collier has spoken to him and he wanted to make it clear that he is committed to working with the ECB."

Collier said that Stanford's issue is with Digicel, which sponsors the West Indies team.