Another showdown looms in Windies cricket

Another showdown seems to be brewing between the West Indies Players’ Association and the West Indies Cricket Board. The latest wrangle involves invitations issued to the 25 prospective players named on Saturday to prepare for next January’s tour of Australia, where West Indies will contest a three-nation limited-overs series with the hosts and Pakistan. The WICB set out a number of terms and conditions in the invitation under which invited players will be considered for selection and asked the players to indicate their agreement prior to being part of a three-week camp that begins in Barbados on November 29.

“These invitations were issued directly to the players by the WICB, notwithstanding the fact that WIPA is the recognised body for establishing the terms and conditions of engagement of West Indies players,” remarked Dinanath Ramnarine, WIPA President and Chief Executive Officer, in a news release yesterday. When contacted, WICB Chief Executive Roger Brathwaite was not aware of WIPA’s concerns and did not want to comment until he was fully apprised of the matter. In making the announcement of the 25 players, the WICB noted they had reinstated their invitation policy with respect to West Indies teams. They described it as part of the process of transformation of the game in the region to meet the many commercial and other challenges of the new era, modernise the operations, and set the game on a sound footing financially and on the field.

Ramnarine is angry because the invitations to the players were made public by the WICB without consultation with WIPA. “All of this constitutes an attempt to put pressure on individual players to agree to sign on the dotted line, failing which they would not be considered for West Indies selection,” he said. “It is to be noted that some of the conditions stipulated by the WICB have nothing to do with cricket, but represent an attempt to exploit the players for commercial purposes.”

Among the terms and conditions that a player must be able to meet are that he:
1. Has made himself available for selection to his national team for all matches in the West Indies domestic competition that immediately precedes, or is concurrent with, the selection of the West Indies team for the tour or home series which immediately follows such competition;
2. Is fit and able to play and is not suffering, and has not suffered from, any illness or injury or other ailment of which he is reasonably aware, which may render him incapable of playing in the tour or home series for which he is being selected;
3. Is contractually able to execute and perform his obligations under the standard WICB match/tour contract.
Ramnarine noted that the players raised several concerns about some of the conditionalities —  that have nothing to do with cricket —  stipulated by the WICB in the invitations.

“Having carefully considered the issues, WIPA has advised its members not to sign the letter of invitation and calls on the board to return to the bargaining table in order that the parties can achieve a mutually satisfactory resolution of the issues involved,” he concluded. From the 25 invitees who have indicated their availability, a squad of 14 will be chosen before West Indies depart on December 29 for their first engagement since they won the ICC Champions Trophy in England last September.