SOUTHAMPTON: West Indies skipper Darren Sammy admitted on Friday he was saddened by the spectacular downfall of disgraced businessman Allen Stanford who ploughed millions of dollars into Caribbean cricket.

Financier and cricket mogul Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in jail by a Houston court on Thursday for a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.

“A lot of our cricketers will have a lot to say about Mr Stanford. He did revive cricket in the Caribbean, and it's just sad what became of it,” said Sammy whose team face England on Saturday in a one-day international.

“We were all looking forward, for the possibilities. It's an unfortunate situation.

“But I'm more focused on this important series. We've not won a one-day series against higher ranked opposition in a while.

“It would be good to manage all the distractions and focus on what we have to do - putting in an excellent performance.”