The turbulence in the global markets has consumed Allen Stanford these past days, but, on the eve of flying to Washington to sort out a bank or two this week, he did watch a practice match on his own ground in Antigua. The Texan tycoon arrived just in time to see Jerome Taylor, one of his own players, spill an horrendous skyer that came out of the impressively bright floodlights. “That could cost you a million dollars,” he boomed at the hapless fielder.

Stanford deals only in millions and zillions: the $20million (about £11.5million) winner-takes-all match he has formulated for November 1 will make no dent in his fortune, estimated to be at least $1billion. He talks in mind-boggling figures while constantly on the run, pausing only to sip rum out of a paper cup. “The credit crunch has not affected me at all,” he said, Sir Viv Richards at his elbow as he surveyed the sweep of his impressive ground. “I did not have one dollar in the securitised meltdown.”

The first impression of this ebullient, back-slapping figure is of how much he reveres traditional English ways. He has traced his roots back to the Standiforths of Yorkshire in the 17th century and designed his ground - not, he emphasises, a stadium of the concrete kind now commonplace in the Caribbean - along English lines, particularly the large gazebos that are the players' dressing-rooms. One of the restaurants is called “Sticky Wicket”, the other “The Pavilion”, which has a sommelier with a preference for an Englishman's claret rather than anything from the brash New World.

All that is lacking is a Long Room, for Stanford loves the paintings and history of Lord's. Had the lavatories there not been clean when he was first shown around by the ECB, though, he would not have done business with the board. “I like to look at the little details: is the restroom clean, does the receptionist answer the telephone,” he said. “I have walked out of some well-known places.”

Stanford's arrival at Lord's by helicopter for the launch of his own tournament was not quite as spectacular as it appeared. “The Civil Aviation Authority was saying to the pilot, ‘When are you going to land? Is this an emergency?'” he said. “He hovered over the square but I told him we could not get out there and had to go to the Nursery Ground. I found the ECB to have the best-organised structure among cricket boards and Giles Clarke [the chairman] to be very straight, with no bulls***.

“I only wish West Indies has a business model that works. How can 20 boards run one business? There should be one board of control with one person on each island reporting to it. When cricket sinks in the Caribbean, the people sink with it. I did not see any leadership to ignite the game before the World Cup.”

Referring to the dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and Digicel, its sponsor, which could have scuppered the tournament, Stanford was, he said, “very disappointed to go through all that legal crap - but I do not blame Digicel”.

His cricketing ambitions do not extend beyond the Caribbean and an involvement with the game in England. Precisely what this will be has yet to be resolved. “I do not want to buy a ground in England, see myself as the most powerful man in cricket or compare myself with Kerry Packer, although I admired his style,” he said. “He had a commercial motive. My motive is to have some fun.”

His masterstroke was to ensure that the great names of West Indies cricket would be directors of Stanford cricket: Richards, who would have enjoyed “cutting loose as quickly as possible had I played Twenty20”, Garry Sobers and all. He is also providing a much-needed boost to the Antiguan economy, which has suffered in the wake of the murder of the British honeymoon couple, Benjamin and Catherine Mullany, in July. The leading hotels, such as Carlisle Bay and Blue Waters, have tightened their security. Virgin Atlantic's flights will be packed in this, the low season, with ECB hierarchy, famous old players and 200 media representatives bewitched by “the largest pay day in the history of team sports”, as Stanford put it.

Stanford, while firmly believing that the future of the game lies in Twenty20 and with the financial muscle of India, will nevertheless watch Test cricket for the first time next year. He will take in part of the Ashes series in England, which would suggest a tightening of his links with the ECB. Before that, there is the little matter of a recession to be seen off - “we shall not be near the bottom until next year” - and the US presidential elections. “I probably think more like a Republican but have an independent view,” he said. “Whoever wins should serve only one term.”

He is convinced that the tournament, which starts next Saturday, will be a success, although this is hurricane season. The tropical storm that lashed the island on Wednesday would have rendered any play impossible that day, or the next. It is as well that there is a reserve date on November 2. “But the match will be a success,” he said. “We are attracting more women and children that attend Test matches. I have put $84million into cricket all told and this is the one unifying thing here in the Caribbean. When it works, everything floats upwards.”

Shah not released

Before their departure on Sunday for Antigua and the Stanford Super Series, Middlesex expressed surprise and disappointment that England have refused to release Owais Shah for the inaugural Champions League in India from December 3 to 10 (Matthew Pryor writes). Shaun Udal, the Middlesex captain, said that they would try to enlist “Brendon McCullum [the New Zealand wicketkeeper] or someone like that”. Middlesex were consulting the Champions League lawyers yesterday to check the rules on recruits after the ECB confirmed three days ago that Shah would not be available. It was hoped that Shah, who is likely to miss out on the first Test in India beginning on December 11, would be released.

It's not just cricket

- Allen Stanford, the 205th wealthiest American, is the chairman of the Stanford Financial Group, which deals in insurance, real estate and wealth management.

- The first Stanford Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies was held in 2006, but he sponsors sports other than cricket. In polo, he sponsors the Stanford US Open Championship and the Stanford USPA Silver Cup, he backs the Stanford Antigua Sailing Week and in golf he sponsors the PGA Tour Stanford St Jude Championship and Stanford International Pro-Am.

- Among the professional golfers sponsored by Stanford are Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas, the world No3 and 7 respectively, as well as Morgan Pressel, the promising woman golfer.

- In tennis, the company is a sponsor of the Sony Ericsson Open and the Champions Series tournaments.

- Among the charitable causes that Stanford supports, his self-described “charity of choice” is the St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Words by Patrick Kidd