London, Feb. 19: England Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairperson Giles Clarke has been accused of prostituting cricket with the help of controversial Texan billionaire Sir Allan Stanford.

Clarke is in for a tough few weeks in the wake of Stanford's arrest for fraud and the breakdown of ECB agreements with the billionaire.

Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove, a long-time critic of Clarke, insisted: "I'm not surprised the Stanford agreement with the ECB has broken down. From day one, it was a tacky relationship with a tacky man.

"I'm shocked at the extent of the alleged fraud. The ECB have as a partner someone who might have destroyed thousands of lives," Fox Sports quoted Bransgrove, as saying.

Stanford has been accused of committing a 5.6 billion pound fraud and, for the second day running, hundreds of account holders were outside his Bank of Antigua branches desperately trying to withdraw their money.

He upset cricket's sensibilities by arriving by helicopter at Lord's last summer. Stanford wheeled out a box containing 20 million dollars for the one-off Twenty20 match between England and West Indies.

Leicestershire chairman Neil Davidson insisted: "I think we rushed into the arms of Stanford and got it terribly wrong. The damage is there for all to see and Giles Clarke's fingerprints are all over it. That's why I think he should resign. Hiring out the team to a Texan billionaire was stupid. I'd agree it was prostitution." (ANI)