Ramdin new Windies ‘keeper

TRINIDAD and Tobago wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has been invited to make himself available for selection on a 13-man West Indies squad to tour Sri Lanka. Ramdin is the only newcomer in a 13-man squad but, as was the case prior to the VB one-day series earlier this year, another major contract dispute could divide the players and disrupt the pre-tour preparations. The players invited are: Shiv Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Ian Bradshaw, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Darren Powell, Denesh Ramdin and Devon Smith.

Notable absentees are Courtney Browne and Reon King, two veterans who played in the two home series against South Africa and Pakistan this year. The WICB said two more players will be added from the West Indies “A” team squad, which left for Sri Lanka on Friday. But, in a case of deja vu, the WICB said it sent invitations and Match/Tour Contracts to the players and asked them to indicate their agreement by June 21. This decision was taken after discussions between the Board and the West Indies Players’  Association (WIPA) broke down on the issue of Clause 5 of the Match/Tour Contract. Clause 5 of the Match/Tour Contracts speaks to the issue of sponsorship and endorsement, the WICB said. “The Board had made every attempt to avoid this by submitting the Match/Tour Contract to WIPA on June 2 but there was no response by WIPA,” WICB chief executive Roger Brathwaite said.

The board accused WIPA of “deliberate and complete misrepresentation” of the recent meeting with Caricom arbitrator Justice Adrian Saunders. Following are excerps from the WICB media release: “On 17 June, Mr Justice Adrian Saunders who was appointed last November by the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-committee on Cricket to adjudicate upon the issue of Clause 1k, whether the personal endorsement contracts signed by players with Cable and Wireless were entered into as individuals or as members of the West Indies team, held a session with the parties to define terms of reference for further adjudication of that dispute. The Board submitted that the adjudication should be confined to determining whether the existing personal endorsement contracts with Cable and Wireless, were, or might be, in breach of the earlier interpretation of Clause 1(k) by Mr Justice Saunders.

WIPA stated that their dissatisfactions went beyond Clause 1(k) and that they wished to have addressed as well the issues raised by Clause 5 of the proposed Sri Lanka Match/Tour contract along with such wider issues as the propriety of the Board’s contract with Digicel and the consequences for the players of provisions of that contract. As there was no agreement on the scope of the terms of reference, the adjudicator proposed that the two parties meet with a professional mediator to discuss the differences, identify the issues separating the parties and agree a mechanism for resolution. This, he said would allow the tour to Sri Lanka to proceed. Both sides agreed to this proposal, however WIPA insisted that the matter of Clause 5 should be included in those discussions and should it not be settled in that forum, the issue should be brought back to Justice Saunders for a binding determination before the tour to Sri Lanka.  WIPA declined to give an unequivocal undertaking that the tour should proceed unless the Board agreed to that process.

In order to avoid that circular approach, the WICB proposed that the issue of Clause 5 be submitted immediately to the adjudicator for a binding determination while the tour proceeded under similar terms and conditions to the Match/Tour Contract that the players had signed prior to the recently concluded Digicel Home Series against South Africa and Pakistan without prejudice to any ongoing dispute resolution measures being undertaken. The Adjudicator advised that he would not be able to look at the issue immediately and would only be willing to provide a provisional ruling if it was sent back to him following the meeting with the mediator which was agreed for Tuesday 21 June.

The WICB submitted that there would be insufficient time to resolve the issue before the tour if that process was followed and that in any event, this was not the type of issue that would helpfully lend itself to a provisional ruling. Mr Brathwaite pointed out that depending on the ruling, there might have to be further negotiations with the team sponsors Digicel before the team could leave. This, he said could potentially delay or cancel the tour at a time when all arrangements were already in place. WIPA refused to give an undertaking that the tour would proceed while the adjudication on Clause 5 was taking place and the meeting ended without agreement. Despite this setback, the WICB is committed to completing all aspects of the negotiations with WIPA and is in the process of formalising a new proposal to WIPA with respect to Retainer Contracts to present at the next meeting.