Caribbean cricket lovers are increasingly asking why Texas billionaire Allen Stanford is spending millions to develop the game in the region. The question was first posed last year when he launched a US $30 million project, including the funding of 19 island teams and the Stanford Twenty20 tournament offering a US $1 million first prize.
It came up again on Wednesday when the 57-year-old Stanford gave another US $100 million to Caribbean cricket, with most of it going towards grassroots development over the next three years.
Cricket followers have always suggested most Americans are clueless about the game but Stanford, a striking six-footer with broad shoulders, lets his actions do the talking.
"I have been here for 25 years," the Antigua citizen told reporters. "We've done things in the Caribbean in financial services that you would have expected...only in London, New York or one of the other financial centres of the world."