Stanford sees a future for Test cricket

	Allen Stanford declared Test cricket was 'boring' but now he sees a future for it after all © Getty Images

Sir Allen Stanford, who declared earlier this year that Test cricket was "boring", now says he believes that the oldest form of the game can peacefully co-exist alongside the newest. Speaking to BBC Radio ahead of the US$20 million winner-takes-all match between England and the Superstars in Antigua, Stanford also rubbished notions that he had been in complete control of the tournament negotiations with the England & Wales Cricket Board.

"The foundation of the sport is Test cricket, the future of the game is Twenty20," said Stanford. "Both can co-exist. Maybe one is more for the purist, maybe one is more for the younger, the 'want to see it now, be entertained now' crowd.

"Like Lord's is the foundation of cricket, it's the beginning, it's the holy grail of cricket," he said. "You can no more do away with that which is Test cricket and replace it with Twenty20 than you can say that Test cricket is the only thing out there. [That] would be foolish because professional sport, unfortunately, is about money and Twenty20 is what is going to drive, commercially, the dollars in the door."

Stanford's millions have brought about a revival of interest in cricket in the Caribbean, and have provided a counterpoint to the financial dominance that India has enjoyed since the onset of the IPL. After extensive talks with the ECB, the 20/20 for 20 format was unveiled at a glitzy ceremony at Lord's in June, but Stanford was at pains to deny that David Collier and Giles Clarke had been "dancing to his tune" during the negotiations.

"I think that is a ludicrous statement," said Stanford. "The ECB had the best management structure in my estimation - you've got over two million involved in cricket in the UK all being managed under the ECB and they are not dancing to any tune I have laid out. I have a lot of respect for both Giles and David. We simply came to business terms and like most things in life it's chemistry and how well you work with people and I have worked extremely well with them.

Stanford added that Saturday's big match represented an investment for the future. "Twenty million dollars is a lot of money but it's not an enormous amount of money," he said. "It is the single biggest pay day in the history of team sports but in relative terms for what we have envisioned in this multi-billion sport it is really just an investment in the future.

"It's part of the bigger plan and that plan is to get this game into a commercially viable foothold. For it will be successful and make money and allow the West Indies to regain their rightful spot as the best in the world. You have to make investments, that makes sense today and tomorrow, this puts us on the world stage. We'll have at least 700million people watching this event globally on Saturday on live television, and the US$20million is what got us there."