There is anecdotal evidence that, within days of humiliating England in the Stanford Super Series Twenty20 showdown and earning $1 million (about £675,000) each, three young West Indies players were seen in an Antigua jeweller's buying Rolex watches worth $30,000 apiece.

Daren Powell, the West Indies fast bowler, whose 79 wickets were costing him 46 runs each at the start of the first Test against England at Sabina Park, was not hiding his wealth, either, when he swept into his modest club ground in Kingston in a swanky Chevrolet Avalanche, which probably set him back about $40,000.

Chris Gayle, who was strolling around like a millionaire anyway, long before he became captain, is significantly less flamboyant, unless you count the gold earring, designer jeans and skimpy vest that reveal his bulging, tattooed forearms.

What he has done with his money is personal, he says, but he revealed on his website that his priority was to provide medical treatment for his father and one of his three brothers, who has a heart condition similar to the one for which he had surgery a few years ago.

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The other players are just as coy about their finances, but there can be no doubt that it has been a life-changing experience, especially for younger players such as Andre Fletcher, who was planning to build a house for his mother in Grenada, Darren Sammy, from St Lucia, and Kieron Pollard, from Trinidad.

Gayle was already well-heeled with his earnings from West Indies and the Indian Premier League, and so were Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who swapped their impoverished Guyana homeland for Florida some time ago.

Even so, $1 million did not go amiss. “K.P. [Kevin Pietersen, the England captain at the time] told me that he didn't really need the money, but we need it and we really wanted it,” Gayle said. “Who wouldn't want a million?”

There could be a spin-off for the West Indies team as well, according to Vivian Richards, another former captain and no stranger to the folding stuff. He is dismayed that more of Allen Stanford's millions did not go to the regeneration of the sport in the Caribbean. The players who did benefit, though, can enjoy their cricket without any financial pressures and, as Richards said: “When you've just won a million dollars, that should set you up for some time.”