Sticky Wicket Part 2 - Sir Allen Standford mess gets murkier
As promised we have more on Stanford dude & his fraud or can we call him Ramalinga Raju of Antigua ?
Michael Atherton lambasts ECB & WICB for involving Stanford and ending up with eggs on their face in sorry tale of greed & shame
Few excerpts :
But money can dull the senses. The behaviour of those infatuated by Stanford’s riches was, frankly, the worst aspect of the whole thing: from the ECB officials, who fawned over him when he descended the steps of his helicopter at Lord’s, to the former greats, who knelt down, licked and polished his boots at every opportunity, to the players’ representatives, who did their best to catch the wave of excess.
When a game is played for money only, it is worthless, and enough people care about the England cricket team not to want to see them playing worthless fixtures. The England cricket team mean an awful lot to an awful lot of people and they do not like it when they see something valuable, something that represents them, reduced to a rich man’s plaything.
It was Warren Buffett, another great and legendary financier, who said that when the tide goes out, you can see who has been swimming naked. The tide has gone out and it is Stanford’s ass now giving a great, whopping moonie to English cricket. It is not a pretty sight.
In another piece Stephen Brenkely shares the plight of people who have invested in Stanford bank in everyone seemed to have every penny in bank
Sir Allen first brought his business to these Caribbean islands 26 years ago. He is, next to the government, the biggest employer in the country with some 2,000 workers. Since the population is only 70,000 his departure will have a cataclysmic effect. “Of course, I’m worried. I want to try to see if my money is safe and I want to try to take it out,” said Derek John. His life savings are deposited with the bank and without them his building contracting company in the Antiguan countryside may |be in big trouble.
He also states how silly WICB turned out with their reaction.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was looking a touch silly yesterday. Having much less money than the ECB it probably had more reason to respond to his blandishments but that did not make it a sound proposition. The WICB president, Dr Julian Hunte, said: “I don’t want to pass judgement. I don’t like kicking a man when he is down.
Simon Briggs talks about Mr Giles Clarke Chariman of ECB toung tied for first time & how EPL was formed in what now for ECB chairman?
So when Sir Allen Stanford arrived on the scene, offering an injection of cash to rival anything the IPL could offer, the ECB seized on their opportunity.
The Stanford deal was very much the baby of Clarke and David Collier, the ECB chief executive. Collier developed the small print through the early part of the summer before Stanford himself made his infamous helicopter-borne visit to Lord’s on June 11.
Now that the deal has gone bad, questions will start to be asked. How much did the ECB investigate Stanford’s background? Did they have any inkling that he might not be what he seemed? And who should take ultimate responsibility for the whole fiasco?
Given the size of the scandal that is now infecting English cricket, it is hardly surprising that Clarke blanched a little in front of the cameras on Tuesday.
Have you guys noticed the Sir, before Allen Stanford. Now that seems ironic. I am not sure if the Queen takes away his knighthood.
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