Does the news of Stanford's potential withdrawal from English cricket come as a surprise to you?

We must remember that it has not been confirmed yet, but I think what has certainly happened is that Stanford has scaled back or ended his involvement in West Indies cricket. Whether that impacts on the ECB is really the question to which we are all awaiting an answer.

But I am not really surprised. From the start he said he wasn't a fan of Test cricket and so his involvement has always been a business decision, designed to exploit his brand. When business deals go bad, businessmen will just up sticks, there is no emotional attachment to the game, so in that sense I'm not surprised.

What kind of damage will this do to the ECB, both to their reputation and financially?

The ECB were only getting £3.5m a year from Stanford, the money was mainly going to the players. But then there was the quadrangular tournament in England which was perhaps worth as much as £9.5m and Stanford's potential involvement in the English Premier League.

So if Stanford does pull out it would not be so much the financial problems it would cause but it would just be an embarrassment to the ECB. They pinned their colours to the Stanford mast and it would certainly call into question the judgment of Giles Clarke and David Collier.

Stanford insisted his investment would give young kids in the West Indies a chance to make their fortune in cricket, will he keep any of these promises?

The investment in the grassroots of cricket was always part of his justification for the event, but most of us thought it was always about the business deal. Michael Holding stepped down from being a Stanford legend because he became disillusioned at the lack of investment from Stanford in West Indies cricket. The signs have been there for some time, so it's no surprise.

If Stanford's riches are withdrawn will it persuade the England players to consider offers from the Indian Premier League (IPL)?

There were three main reasons for going with Stanford:

1) The ECB said Stanford was going to help West Indies cricket - that's not happened.

2) To get the West Indies vote at the ICC.

3) To try to give those players who were missing out on the IPL bonanza a bit extra.

So what this will do, if it is confirmed, is certainly increase the pressure on the ECB from the players' representatives to try to get them a window of opportunity to get them into the IPL. But there are contracts in place and the ECB have Test matches in place for May for the next few years.

The only slight ray of hope for the players is that following the events in Mumbai, the ECB and the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket In India) have repaired their relationship, so if Stanford pulls out the ECB will look to recalibrate their allies and that may have consequences for IPL involvement.