A TEXAN billionaire landed his helicopter on the sacred pitch at Lord s on Wednesday and brought some of football s buzz and bling to cricket. Sir Allen Stanford (pictured) stepped off his chopper at the home of cricket to launch Stanford Twenty20 for 20

A TEXAN billionaire landed his helicopter on the sacred pitch at Lord's on Wednesday and brought some of football's buzz and bling to cricket.

Sir Allen Stanford (pictured) stepped off his chopper at the home of cricket to launch Stanford Twenty20 for 20 - a series of five annual winner takes all matches with a whopping $20million prize (£10million).

The games will be hosted at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua and the first match is scheduled for November.

Sir Allen said this is a huge leap forward for cricket in the Caribbean.

"The Stanford Twenty20 for 20 will be a highly anticipated event, not just because of the prizemoney, but because of the traditional friendly rivalry that exists between England and the West Indies," he said.

WOOD&Vale Comment: Sir Allen Stanford is set to become the JR Ewing of cricket. The Texan billionaire flew into Lord's by helicopter, vowing to change the game forever and bringing with him the incentive of a glass cabinet containing the millions of dollars he will pay England's cricketers and backroom staff just for winning a single Twenty20 game. Let's hope our lads don't come to regard him as more of an Anne Robinson. Under his terms, the losers leave with nothing.