The Man Who Bought Cricket (2022) User Reviews

Fascinating programme

[bsconsulting · 8/10 · 3 January 2022]

Interesting programme about Allen Stamford tried to use cricket sponsorship to raise his profile whilst meanwhile the law enforcement agencies were closing in on his corrupt business empire.

Never believe your own PR - It was never going to end well for him.

Engaging and deserving of being told.

[pjghmwdd · 8/10 · 7 January 2022]

As a lover of documentaries It's easy to see a huge decline in quality recently. Netflix has been capitalising on documentary success by pumping out limited series docs with very little substance and a lot of pomp. They house a lot of fantastic drama series however.

On the other hand sky has been producing some abysmal dramas and comedies the past few years. (Look them up, most sit at under 5 on imdb). So it was quite shocking to see a seemingly sky original documentary come out so well. It was engaging and told a chronological and digestible story. There were no interviews with internet sleuths (Looking at you Netflix). Each interviewee was a relevant person who was part of the story, and their did not seem to be any cases of dramatic editing with their words. They spoke at a reasonable length in full conversation and narrated some of the audio-less video footage.

The pinnacle of enjoyment however, considering the disgrace the English cricket team and their members have been in recently, was how they come off in this show. For such a non-inclusive entity with emerging racism and entitlement stories in the news It plots a thread that the English Cricket Board would be the ones to fall for this greedy and ridiculous contest. They were willing to look the other way as their national team, and their wives were played with. This story is nowhere in cricket coverage today in media, and this doc adds flavour to the reputation they are battling with currently.

A flawed documentary but a damning indictment

[johnfpfallon · 7/10 · 8 January 2022]

This documentary is unnecessarily over-long at 3 episodes, involving multiple repeats of the same snippets/quotes. It could have easily been edited to a 2-parter. It "reveals" the "fraud" perpetuated by Antiguan-based Stanford Financial Group.

After 2 episodes no fraud had been revealed and the only criminal activity demonstrated had been perpetrated by US authorities such as the SEC & the FBI acting beyond their jurisdictions in other sovereign nations. The final episode reveals the evil duplicity of one protagonist over one-time colleagues amid tenuous financial accusations.

Investors ought to be aware of what they are investing in; and prepared to accept credit risk for any such investments.

The US has a really warped sense of Justice and Injustice; given the outcomes of one financial scandal amongst many scandals in the US at that time.

Tragic/Sad/Revealing/Over-long.

Cricketing Sadness and Madness

[williamturner-63909 · 10/10 · 3 January 2022]

A riveting documentary series which illustrates clearly what a disgusting man Allen Stanford was. An array of interviewees explain the twists and turns of the Stanford saga. As an avid cricket fan, I found it interesting seeing some of my heroes in this strange environment but do not let the title fool you; this series is for everyone!

Looking beyond the topic area and as a piece of film

[jimmy_paddy · 3/10 · 4 June 2024]

The documentary moves from back and forth between a fixed point in 2008 and a long timeline of the Stanford criminal empire formations, where it fails to really make much sense is explaining the significance of England cricket team playing in the West Indies.

It could easily be one episode of how his empire worked and mentions of operations in West Indies.

Then another about cricket in West Indies, how it was powerful in the 70s and 80s, but collapsed due to socioeconomics and corruption. Then go into how Stanford is revered there for bringing professionalism and structure. This shows two sides of Stanford for how he can be perceived, with the two worlds coming together as his abuse of corruption in West Indies cricket and the Antigua government become fused together, to ensure sportswashing occurred.

Final episode could have been downfall.

The England team didn't feel like a major player in the whole documentary, but were semi-famous people to get to talk in the documentary, as well as a place to find an audience of cricket fans.

It's a fascinating subject, but the pointless criss-crossing of time did not add anything to the documentary.