Gordon says retainer contracts soon

This was revealed on Friday night at Pier 1 in Chaguaramas, when he delivered the feature address at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club’s annual awards ceremony and dinner.

Gordon, in an address said the issuing of retainer contracts was one of the WICB’s immediate goals to which the organisation had committed itself to achieving at the start of his term in August.

Among the other objectives was sending the best possible team to Australia, resolving the impasse between the WICB and WIPA, improving the finances and finding money to commit to retainer contracts and developing an action plan to promote the Win World Cup campaign.

"We ask to be judged on our ability to deliver these results as our first objective," Gordon said.

"If we do, and I am pleased to say that we are well on our way to doing so, then we would have earned the right to expect support as we move forward to the next stage."

He said that the Win World Cup committee, comprising a number of West Indies cricket legends along with coach Bennett King, was poised to start working with the players once the retainer contracts were in place.

"Once retainer contracts are signed, these men will be working with the players, and have already developed 24 recommendations for implementation to take us forward," Gordon explained.

"The committee felt that what had been proposed for the lead up to the World Cup is vital to West Indies cricket and the legacy of the World Cup will be nurtured way beyond 2007."

When Gordon took over from former WICB president Teddy Griffith in August, he announced that year-long retainer contracts would be instituted for the top ten West Indies players.