England will play for an unprecedented “winner takes all” $20 million in an annual match for the next five years, funded by American billionaire Sir Allen Stanford.

The Twenty20 fixture will be staged on November 1 between England and a Stanford All-Stars XI, chosen from the best players to have performed in his own Stanford 20/20 tournament in 2006 and 2008.

The Texan tycoon and chief executive of the Stanford Financial Group, who resides in Antigua, conceived the idea. He is stumping up $100 million for just five annual contests. The 11 playing in the match will earn a cool $1 million each if they finish on the winning team – not a good time to pull a hamstring in the previous match – and a further $2 million will be shared between coaching staff and reserve players.

The remaining $7 million will be divided between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the West Indies Cricket Board.

The news was announced at Lord’s by Stanford and ECB officers, who were flanked by Stanford cricket ambassadors and former West Indies legends Curtly Ambrose, Viv Richards, Curtly Ambrose and Desmond Haynes. England’s Sir Ian Botham also attended the launch.

“The winners of this match will go home very happy, the losers very unhappy,” Stanford said.

He added: “I'm investing in the future of the West Indies game. We are at the bottom right now. It breaks my heart to see us at the bottom. I want to take West Indies cricket from the bottom to the top where it belongs.

“The Stanford 20/20 for 20 will be a highly anticipated event, not just because of the prize money, but because of the traditional friendly rivalry that exists between England and the West Indies.”

England’s star players missed out on playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League this year because of English cricket commitments. But with the likelihood of performing in next year’s IPL and the Stanford money also, the amount of millionaires in cricket is soon to multiply.

Stanford also announced an annual quadrangular tournament that will be staged in England from 2009, with England and West Indies permanently involved in it.

The ECB seem to have been blinded by the money on offer at a time when there is already too much cricket on the international calendar. England’s cricketers rarely receive any break. But ultimately, it appears money talks and no ailing player will argue.