Arbitrator rules for Windies players

CARICOM arbitrator Judge Adrian Saunders has ruled that there is indeed a distinction between endorsements players can sign in their private capacity and as a member of the West Indies team. According to information reaching CaribbeanCricket.com, Judge Saunders ruled that the distinction between the two contexts is “subtle” but he agreed with WIPA’s submission that draws the line between individual endorsements and contracts that make use of the West Indies name or insignia. The arbitrator’s finding, which was delivered to the WICB and WIPA on Thursday evening, settles the dispute over Clause 1K and effectively blocks the WICB from invalidating pre-existing deals between Cable & Wireless and three cricketers (Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo).

According to Judge Saunders, Clause 1K does not stop players from pursuing private endorsements before they are selected to (or after they are dropped from) the West Indies team. The player is only in breach of Clause 1K when he undertakes those deals as a member of West Indies team. In his ruling, the judge called on the two sides to sit at the bargaining table in good faith to sort out several other contractual differences. Contrary to reports elsewhere, the arbitrator’s ruling does not settle the impasse, especially the disputed Clause 5 of the match/tour contract for the upcoming tour to Australia.

During meetings last Thursday and Friday, the WICB and WIPA made some progress on other aspects of the contract but there has been no compromise on Clause 5 from either side. Earlier this week, the WICB submitted a mild modification to the clause by e-mail but WIPA rejected the change, arguing that the board’s intent to usurp the players’ individual rights without compensation remains. The WICB has tied agreement on Clause 5 to team selection eligibility and, unless an agreement is reached within the next 12 days, there could be problems sending a full-strength team to the tri-nation one-day tournament. Another major sticking point is the players’ share of the sponsorship money from Digicel.

In the past, the players collected up to two-thirds of the sponsorship pot for overseas tours but there’s some uncertainty over the date that Digicel’s deal became effective. During the recent pre-tour camp in Barbados, all players (including those contracted to Cable & Wireless) wore Digicel-branded training gear and WIPA’s position is that the cricketers must be compensated for that. Players attending training camps are not paid a fee outside of a flat $50 per-diem. Meanwhile, WIPA are calling on the WICB to name their best 14-man team and captain based on cricketing criteria, for the forthcoming VB triangular series with immediate effect.