WI players, Board sign peace

All players selected for the three-Test tour of Australia — including star batsman Brian Lara — will sign tour contracts even if endorsement and image rights are still an outstanding issue, the West Indies Cricket Board and West Indies Players Association said in a joint statement.

The ICC and the international cricketers’ union (FICA) will have a maximum ten days to negotiate the issue — involving rival telecommunications companies — before making a binding recommendation.

If the ICC and FICA cannot agree, an independent mediator will be used, the statement said.

A home series against South Africa in March began without Lara and six other players who were contracted to Cable & Wireless, a rival of Digicel, which is the official sponsor of the West Indies team.

They were reinstated. But in July more players refused to sign contracts and a second-string team was sent to tour Sri Lanka.

The First Test between Australia and the West Indies is scheduled in Brisbane from November 3 to 7.

The Second Test begins on November 17 in Hobart and the third on November 21 in Adelaide.

Following is the text of a joint statement released by the WICB and WIPA.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) have agreed that players selected for the upcoming tour to Australia will sign the match/tour contract subject to the negotiations of Clause five which, when agreed, will be placed immediately in the contract.

The two parties also agreed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Federation of International Cricketers Associa-tions (FICA) will be asked to negotiate Clause five of the match/tour contract with a view to making a joint recommendation within ten days of commencing the negotiations.

This joint recommendation will be binding on the parties.

If there is no agreement after ten days, it is agreed that ICC and FICA will recommend an independent arbitrator.

Should that exercise not be completed prior to the tour, it would continue and any financial benefits which may be agreed upon the mediators’ recommendation would be paid with effect from the date of the signing of the contract.

The two parties also agreed that matters, which remain to be settled with respect to all other outstanding issues including the proposed retainer contracts, would be referred to representatives of their organisations for finalisation within an agreed time-frame.

This agreement followed discussions between the President of the WICB, Ken Gordon and the President and Chief Executive Officer of WIPA, Dinanath Ramnarine over the last weekend.