WICB await Lara’s response

BRIAN LARA has been cleared by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to play in the upcoming home cricket series against South Africa because his endorsement deal with Cable and Wireless was considered “pre-existing.” However, the six other players with Cable and Wireless contracts — Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith — were all deemed ineligible for selection, the WICB announced yesterday. The board said Lara has agreed to respond within 24 hours to a letter of invitation. Full text of the WICB satement: The West Indies team for the First Test match in the Digicel 2005 Home Series against South Africa will be announced on Saturday, March 19. The 24-hour delay in the announcement is due to the fact that the West Indies Cricket Board have  issued a letter of invitation and a Match/Tour contract today to Brian Lara to make himself available for selection to the squad for the match, which begins in Guyana on March 31. Lara has agreed to respond within 24 hours.

Letters of invitation, accompanied by Match/Tour contracts were not issued to Lara and six other players who hold personal endorsement contracts with Cable and Wireless at the time the Board issued letters of invitation to 22 players on March 4. At that time, the Board had taken a decision not to consider for selection the players with personal endorsement contracts with Cable and Wireless until such time as the Board could be satisfied that these contracts were unquestionably in the nature of individual contracts and contained no provisions which could be construed as passing off by the player of his connection with the West Indies Team by attribution or by defining himself as a member of the team. The personal endorsement contracts were subsequently submitted to the Board’s legal counsel on Friday, March 11. On the afternoon of Thursday, March 17, the Board, acting upon the opinion of counsel, advised the selectors that only Lara of the seven players with personal endorsement contracts was eligible for selection.

The Board’s legal counsel advised that Lara’s contract with Cable and Wireless, which was signed in 2003 and expires in September 2005 was deemed as pre-existing and this therefore made him eligible for selection at this time. The other six players with personal endorsement contracts Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Smith and Ravi Rampaul were deemed to be ineligible. The contracts were reviewed by counsel to ensure that the provisions did not fetter the Board’s use of their team rights or not impose on the players any obligations, which could cause them or the WICB to be in breach of the Board’s sponsorship contract with Digicel. Legal counsel also advised the Board in respect of whether the personal endorsement contracts were entered into as individuals or as members of the West Indies team.

This was to ensure that the provisions were in keeping with the guidelines laid down in December of 2004, by acting Chief Justice of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Mr Justice Adrian Saunders, the Adjudicator appointed by the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket. The Prime Ministerial Sub Committee, in consultation with WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), had agreed on the engagement of an independent adjudicator to be appointed by the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee, to render a binding decision on the interpretation of Clause 1 (k) of previous WICB Match/Tour contracts. This clause revolves around the relationship between personal endorsement contracts and team sponsorships and requires a player to submit to the Board, the non-financial details of any endorsement contract he plans on entering into.

The WICB accepted Justice Saunders’ ruling that under Clause 1 (k), a personal endorsement contract entered into by a player, under contract with the WICB, could be viewed as legitimately done if this contract were entered into by the player in his individual capacity and not as a member of the West Indies Team. After reviewing the contracts of the seven players, the Board’s legal counsel determined that they were clearly not in the nature of individual contracts and were signed as members of the West Indies team while under contract to the West Indies Cricket Board. This means that under Clause 1 (k), the players were obligated to submit their contracts to the WICB for review in order to get approval before signing. This was necessary to ensure that the provisions did not conflict with the Board’s obligations under its sponsorship agreement.

In Lara’s case, the current contract, signed in 2003 and expiring in September 2005 was deemed by counsel to have been entered into with the constructive knowledge of the Board and with its blessing. Counsel also reviewed a contract signed by Lara in July 2004, which was deemed to be a renewal of his existing contract. However given the fact that the renewal contract contained terms which were significantly different from the original contract, the sponsorship arrangements and rights granted by the renewal contract pose very serious issues for further consideration by the Board. In respect of the other six contracts, counsel advised that given the provisions of the contracts the Board could not give consent to those personal endorsements.

Counsel advised that the contracts, as a whole, contained provisions that were in direct conflict with the Board’s sponsorship agreement and definitely could not co-exist with it. The provisions significantly reduced the value of the team sponsor’s rights and the Board’s commercial rights. Further the players’ obligations under their personal endorsement contracts brought them into direct conflict with the rights of the team sponsor. In light of those considerations, counsel advised that the onus was on the players to undertake the responsibility to make themselves eligible for selection on the West Indies team. The WICB can take no action in this regard as this could be construed as offering an inducement to break a contract. The Board looks forward to having all players eligible for selection on the West Indies team.