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[The Stanford Series] Allen Stanford, puppetmaster: By Freddie Flintoff

Posted by Stacy-Marie Ishmael on Sep 25 12:20.

We missed the Freddie Flintoff-tells-all-about-Allen-Stanford extravaganza in the Daily Mail on Thursday, since we tend not to read that newspaper with any regularity.

But as a service to any cricket-loving FT Alphaville readers, we thought we’d provide some highlights, drawn from what the Mail described as the final extract of Flintoff’s “explosive new book”:

I had reservations about the England team’s association with Allen Stanford even before we flew out to Antigua for the first of our Twenty20 challenge matches and they were just compounded once we arrived.

…
All the talk about England helping the development of West Indies cricket was absolute rubbish. We should have come out and said that we were there as mercenaries, playing for money. It was nothing to do with playing for England or helping Caribbean cricket.

The sole purpose was to play one Twenty20 match for $20m. I struggled with that concept and I think most of the lads felt the same. I don’t play for England for money and the whole Stanford concept didn’t excite me.

…

I was also uncomfortable being a plaything for an American businessman. The cricket was a sideshow and we were just puppets. The trip didn’t seem to be popular with anyone, not in the dressing room, and most of the publicity was negative.

There was also a certain amount of arrogance on our part, thinking we could fly out to the West Indies on the Friday, play warm-up games on the Sunday and the Tuesday, and the following Saturday take on a team that had been practising for six weeks and training like no West Indies team has ever trained before.

The belief seemed to be that we would just turn up and win, collect the money and go home. I thought that was unbelievable. Whoever put that itinerary together wasn’t living in the real world. By the time we left Antigua, I think we were united in our determination to do things differently next time, should there be a next time. A few months later Stanford’s business empire collapsed so that trip was the first and last of its kind.

Epic.

Article Series - The Stanford Series

  1. As Stanford allegations fly, the SEC investigates...
  2. US MARSHALS SEEN ENTERING HOUSTON OFFICE OF STANFORD FINANCIAL GROUP - REUTERS EYEWITNESS
  3. Arise, Sir Allen...lest we assume the worst
  4. Sir Allen's Antigua, or the curious case of Stanford International Bank
  5. ROBERT STANFORD ACCUSED OF `MASSIVE FRAUD' BY SEC
  6. The fractal Stanford
  7. The full SEC complaint against Stanford
  8. Stanford scandal in pictures
  9. It's just not cricket
  10. Have you seen this bank?
  11. Where in the world is Sir Allen?
  12. What does the 'F' stand for in FINRA?
  13. Stanford's mysterious billions
  14. Stanford's AIM foray
  15. A Freudian slip?
  16. Sir Allen Stanford, you've been served
  17. But which passport will he surrender?
  18. SIB and Stanford Trust Company Limited put into receivership
  19. Eastern Caribbean Central Bank "takes control" of the Bank of Antigua
  20. The Stanford campaign donations: pay 'em back, not forward
  21. Clients of Allen, by the numbers
  22. This land is our land, Antigua government to say
  23. Antigua government moves closer to seizing Stanford properties
  24. From "investment fraud" to "massive Ponzi scheme"
  25. New details on alleged "massive Ponzi scheme"
  26. Stanford's US employees join the jobless queue
  27. Irony du jour
  28. Invested with Sir Allen? The FBI wants you (to contact them)
  29. Stanford pleading the fifth
  30. IRS says Sir Allen owes $200m in back taxes
  31. Ralph Janvey to Stanford employees: BYOB
  32. Laura Pendergest-Holt agrees to extend indictment deadline
  33. Vantis reports "significant shortfall of assets" at Stanford International Bank
  34. Sir Allen speaks
  35. Stanford victims unite!
  36. Frozen-out Stanford investors petition Congress
  37. Antiguan financial services providers launch PR offensive
  38. The SEC has strong words for Sir Allen Stanford
  39. When it came to Sir Allen Stanford, many warnings went unheeded
  40. Sir Allen's cowboy lawyer
  41. Authorities still failing to get along
  42. Laura Pendergest-Holt to face more charges, Fox Business says
  43. The DEA connection
  44. Avast, ye salty Stanford lawfirm website
  45. Judge rules Sir Allen Stanford must stay in jail pending trial
  46. Stanford CFO James Davis "intends to plead guilty", laywer says
  47. Sir Allen's request to unfreeze funds for legal fees denied
  48. The Tripoli-St John's Nexus
  49. "Fraud victims" want $24bn from the government of Antigua and Barbuda
  50. Sir Allen discovers there's no air conditioning in jail
  51. James Davis pleads guilty to charges related to that $7bn Ponzi
  52. Big Brother's blood oaths
  53. "The investors ought not have to pay for the receiver's PR firm"
  54. Sir Allen's Bellagio problem
  55. Stanford's Bellagio debt, redux
  56. A public defender rides to Sir Allen's rescue
  57. Allen Stanford, puppetmaster: By Freddie Flintoff
  58. Jail proving a big headache for Sir Allen [UPDATED]
  59. Arise Allen Stanford, un-knighted...
  60. Ponzi victims, unite!
  61. Strategies to cope with the SEC

This entry was posted by Stacy-Marie Ishmael on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 12:20 and is filed under Capital markets, People. Tagged with , , . Edit this entry.

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