Three offers worth 20million US dollars (£13million) each for one-off games involving England have been turned down by cricket chiefs wary of another Allen Stanford-style fiasco.

Giles Clarke, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), admitted he had been "staggered" by the offers that came since the collapse of the organisation's five-year 100million US dollar deal with Stanford.

The Texan billionaire's assets have been frozen since February while he is under investigation for alleged fraud, and the ECB have been cautious not to be drawn into any similar arrangement. Clarke confirmed three offers, one thought to originate from the Middle East, had been rejected.

He said: "I was staggered [by the offers].

"But we've got a very crowded calendar and we need to look at those types of proposals - there are serious issues about whether we should be playing individual games for very large sums of money.

"There's a strong debate about it so I don't think it's something the board would view with much favour."

The ECB signed a deal with Stanford in June last year for for five Twenty20 internationals between England and a West Indies all-star XI with a prize fund of 20million US dollars to be awarded to the winner.

The West Indies XI won the only match played - the ECB severed ties with Stanford after the fraud investigation was revealed.