Cricket deadlock at the Hilton

THE WEST Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) yesterday emphasised its commitment to a speedy resolution to the current impasse with the WI Cricket Board which is threatening to disrupt the upcoming limited-overs tournament in Australia. At a hastily called press conference last night at the Hilton Trinidad, Dinanath Ramnarine, chief executive officer of WIPA said : “The resolution to this matter is to sit like big mature men around a table and work out the differences. Our position from the start, with or without a mediator has been to resolve the issues. We remain committed to this process.”

He was speaking after several hours of discussions with 16 players who refused to sign a contract with the WICB. This ruled them out of the 25-man training squad called to prepare for the VB triangular one-day series involving hosts Australia and Pakistan in early 2005. Also at last night’s media conference were David Abdulah, a trade union consultant and Kusha Haraksingh, an attorney. Haraksingh said that the players’ rights were their intellectual property and suggested that if the WICB wants to obtain them through the contentious Clause 5, the cricketers must be paid an agreed sum. Abdulah maintained that litigation was the last resort and they were obligated to using negotiation to find a solution to the problem.