In case the English Cricket Board isn’t embarrassed enough, today’s Times has a fresh set of revelations about Allen Stanford and his tawdry cricket spectacular:
It was an iconic and now infamous moment as Allen Stanford’s helicopter touched down on the perfectly trimmed grass of Lord’s, the home of English cricket. But the alarm bells should already have been ringing in the ground’s panelled corridors as the aircraft, with its gold flashes and the Stanford name emblazoned along its flanks, emerged from the clouds over London.
Despite its impressive logos, there was no Stanford company helicopter. Nor was there a $20 million jackpot in the treasure chest that the beaming Texan showed off to the world —
the “prize money” that he had pledged for the first in a series of Twenty20 matches between his own West Indian Stanford Superstars and England.
The helicopter had been hired for the day and the Stanford logo added by the hire company.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in