Stanford Twenty20 Game Given Go-ahead

A bitter sponsorship row that threatened to derail next month's Stanford Series Twenty20 match between England and a West Indies All-Stars XI was settled tonight, ending three weeks of increasingly fractious dispute.

A deal to save the match was announced after talks between Digicel, the telecoms that company pays $4m a year to sponsor the West Indies team, and lawyers representing the match organizers Stanford, following a meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board in Antigua.

The deal represents a victory for Digicel following a high court decision in its favour earlier this week. It is understood the company will have its name on the shirts of the Stanford Superstars team for the $20m match - the key concession Digicel had been fighting for after it emerged telecoms rivals Cable and Wireless were to sponsor the game.

The scene was set for a rapprochement by a late-night phone call on Wednesday between the Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, who has put up the prize fund, and the Irish entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, who founded Digicel in 2001.

Stanford said in a statement that it and Digicel had "held a series of extremely productive discussions during which they each committed to achieve a successful outcome for both their organizations and, most importantly, cricket in the West Indies."Sir Allen Stanford continued: "I am pleased with both parties' solution-oriented approach and most importantly that this matter has been finally resolved. We look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to the Stanford Cricket Ground to enjoy a fantastic week of cricket."

The agreement clears the way for the series of six matches to begin as planned on October 25, climaxing in the $20m winner-takes-all-game on November 1.

The compromise will also come as a relief to the ECB, which had been banking on the Stanford Series to placate its centrally-contracted players forbidden from playing in the unofficial but hugely lucrative Indian Premier League.