Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1104 Mon. July 09, 2007  
   
Sports


Australia could play Stanford series


Cricket Australia has confirmed that it would consider a proposal by Allen Stanford to participate in the $23 million Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies next year. The tournament though is yet to be approved by the ICC, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) or ESPN, which has a broadcast agreement with the ICC.

According to the ICC's Future Tours Programme, Australia need to complete a Test and ODI series in the Caribbean by June 30, 2008. "Were the West Indies Cricket Board to reach an accommodation on a Twenty20 tournament with the ICC and they were in a position to supply us with more specific detail on any Twenty20 tournament, then we'd be happy to consider it," Cricket Australia spokesman Phil Pope was quoted in The Age. "And that would be on the understanding that we need to move on to our next commitment on the Future Tours programme out of the Caribbean by June 30."

The Australian newspaper reported that Stanford had approached Australia last year for a weeklong Twenty20 knockout also involving India, South Africa and Sri Lanka.