The Stanford 20/20 was a short-lived cricket tournament in the Caribbean island of Antigua. It was held first in July and August 2006 in the West Indies at the Stanford Cricket Ground, St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, and then again in the same place in 2008. It was a variety of the popular Twenty20 format, which had been first introduced in English cricket in 2003. The tournament was separate to the Stanford Super Series, which was held in late 2008.

Stanford 20/20
Countries West Indies
FormatTwenty20
First edition2006
Latest edition2008
Tournament formatKnockout
Number of teams19 (2006), 21 (2008)
Current champion Trinidad & Tobago
QualificationStanford Super Series

The tournament was privately devised and funded by wealthy American businessman Allen Stanford, who held Antiguan dual nationality.[1] It has been alleged that Stanford's creation of the tournament was a method of laundering his income from the fraudulent business schemes for which he is now serving a lengthy penal sentence in the USA.

19 teams took part in the inaugural knock-out tournament and 20 teams took part in the second tournament (although 21 teams were originally scheduled to take part). The 2008 season was part of the official calendar of the WICB.[2]

2006 tournament

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In 2006 a total of 16 teams was in the competition and the final was played between Guyana led by Ramnaresh Sarwan and Trinidad led by Daren Ganga, And what a trilling final it was, one where Guyana took the trophy and 1 Million USD home, Travis Dowlin was an instrumental part of them winning scoring 80 from 60 but had to retire hurt and Ramnaresh Sarwan saw them to the finish line with his 49 from 40. This was the beginning of T20 cricket in the West Indies.

Qualifying matches

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11 July
Scorecard
v
  Sint Maarten
98 (18 overs)
United States Virgin Islands won by 47 runs
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua
11 July
Scorecard
Cayman Islands  
175/4 (20 overs)
v
  Bahamas
118/9 (20 overs)
Cayman Islands won by 57 runs
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua
12 July
Scorecard
British Virgin Islands  
105/9 (20 overs)
v
  St Lucia
106/3 (14.3 overs)
St Lucia won by 7 wickets
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua

Bracket

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Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
  Guyana 116/2
  Montserrat 115/8   Guyana 168/7
  Jamaica 75/1   Jamaica 163/6
  Bermuda 74   Guyana 160/4
  Grenada 84/4   Grenada 158/8
  Dominica 83   Grenada (D/L) 70/3
  St Vincent 96/5   St Vincent 122/7
  United States Virgin Islands 92   Guyana 176/5
  Nevis 104/3   Trinidad and Tobago 175/6
  St Kitts 100   Nevis 213/3
  Antigua 146/9   Antigua 170/9
  St Lucia 98/9   Nevis 136/9
  Trinidad and Tobago 93/2   Trinidad and Tobago 210/6
  Cayman Islands 92   Trinidad and Tobago 142/9
  Barbados 141/6   Barbados 96
  Anguilla 103/7

2008 tournament

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Initially it was planned to include two additional teams from the region in the 2008 competition, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands, increasing the number of teams participating to twenty-one (21).[3]

However, since the application required by US citizens (such as Stanford himself) and organisations to interact with the island under the United States embargo against Cuba was rejected, Sint Maarten (Cuba's destined opponent in the preliminary round) received a bye.[4]

Preliminary matches

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  • Cuba were barred from participating in the tournament; St Maarten received a bye to the next round
26 January 2008
Scorecard
St Lucia  
134/8 (20 overs)
v
  Cayman Islands
88/8 (20 overs)
St Lucia won by 46 runs
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua
27 January
Scorecard
Dominica  
139/7 (20 overs)
v
  British Virgin Islands
73 (17.2 overs)
Dominica won by 66 runs
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua
29 January
Scorecard
Turks and Caicos Islands  
67/9 (20 overs)
v
  Montserrat
70/1 (7.3 overs)
Montserrat won by 9 wickets
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua
30 January
Scorecard
St Kitts  
130/8 (20 overs)
v
  United States Virgin Islands
131/6 (19.2 overs)
United States Virgin Islands won by 4 wickets
Stanford Cricket Ground, Coolidge, Antigua

Brackets

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Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
  St Vincent and the Grenadines 168/4
  Sint Maarten 158/6   St Vincent and the Grenadines 107/8
  Trinidad and Tobago 106/2   Trinidad and Tobago 166/7
  St Lucia 105/9   Trinidad and Tobago 120
  Grenada 177/6   Barbados 115/6
  Anguilla 161/4   Grenada 98
  Barbados 103/8   Barbados 152/4
  Dominica 77   Trinidad and Tobago 94/1
  Jamaica 191/4   Jamaica 93
  Bahamas 73/7   Jamaica 123/2
  Nevis 185/6   Nevis 121/8
  Montserrat 111   Jamaica 143/7
  Antigua 153/8   Guyana 142/8
  United States Virgin Islands 131/6   Antigua 156/9
  Guyana 63/1   Guyana 146/9
  Bermuda 62/9

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Billionaire reveals Windies plan, BBC Sport, 4 October 2005
  2. ^ "WICB and Stanford agree five-year deal". cricinfo.com.
  3. ^ Stanford 20/20 has two new teams, The Bajan Reporter, 9 October 2007.
  4. ^ Cuba denied participation in Stanford 20/20, Cricinfo's Beyond the Test World, retrieved 19 December 2007