High stakes Cricket

Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

IT'S GOING to be cricket's version of high stakes poker when the Stanford Allstars take on England next Saturday in Antigua for a winner-take-all payday of US$20 million.

All the chips have been cast into the middle of the table and one team will leave the stage full of instant millionaires while the other will be left to curse its luck.

That's the nature of poker and, for better or worse, 20/20 cricket where one outstanding performance can decide a match.

In Tests there's five days of fluctuating fortunes where stellar performances do not necessarily guarantee victory.

In the one-day game, the margin for error is smaller, but there's still ample time for teams to recover and regroup.

In the shortest version of the game, one withering spell of bowling or one whirlwind innings from a hot bat can decide a game.

It's as compelling as it is random.

Twenty/20 is a game designed for maverick talent and England and the Stanford Allstars will have more than their share on display when they take the field on Antigua's national day.

Simply starting at the top, there are no more exciting batsmen in world cricket than the teams' skippers, Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen.

The Allstars' Gayle is one of the most brutal opening bats in the game and boasts the only international 20/20 century - made against South Africa last year at the 20/20 World Championship.

Newly-crowned England captain Pietersen is one of the game's great improvisers who seemingly makes up strokes as he goes along.

In a batsman-friendly game, Gayle and Pietersen will have plenty of willing allies at the crease.

While the precocious talents of axed Xavier Marshall and banned Marlon Samuels will be missing from the Allstars' top order, there's still plenty of talent to call on in Test mainstays Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul plus in-form Sylvester Joseph and possibly young allrounder Kieron Pollard and/or Darren Sammy.

England counter with versatile Ian Bell and hard-hitting 'keeper Matt Prior, the consistent Paul Collingwood, young allrounder Luke Wright and the enigmatic Andrew Flintoff.

Bowlers are, generally, on a hiding to nothing in this abbreviated form of the game and can appear to be little more than glorified bowling machines when the batsmen cut loose at small grounds. However, wickets are wickets and they can quickly change momentum and retard scoring rates.

Emerging star Jerome Taylor will spearhead the Allstars' attack and his four overs against the England top order could go a long way towards deciding the match. Jamaican teammate Daren Powell could be his new-ball partner while Trinidad left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed, who performed superbly in the regional Stanford 20/20 series and routed Jamaica in the final, would be an intriguing, if risky, selection.

Injured Dwayne Bravo, an automatic selection, will be sorely missed for his all-round talents and energy.

England have carried their Test attack into the Stanford 20/20 for 20 squad with left-arm swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom and quicks Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Flintoff battling it out for possibly four berths.

Of course, the joker in the deck is the record prizemoney - the greatest stakes for any one-off team event - and how it will affect the players.

Playing for a cool US$1 million or bust must creep into the combatants' psyches - even if they say it's 'just another game' before the showdown.

We'll see on Saturday, let the cards fall where they may.