West Indies Contract Dispute Close To Conclusion
Conflict Between Board And Players Coming To An End
Oct 18, 2009
It is likely that a full-strength West Indies cricket team will tour Australia, after an agreement was made between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Player Association. After a three day meeting most of the issues put forward by WIPA were said to have been resolved in satisfactory manner. While two issues remain in contention, they will be dealt with via an arbitration process as set out by CARICOM.
The Contract Dispute
The contract dispute began in July, when thirteen of the West Indies best players, such as Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, made themselves unavailable for the St Vincent’s test against Bangladesh, creating a major crisis for West Indies cricket. The dispute itself was sparked by most of the West Indies' top strength squad being wary of signing retainer contracts due to their demands not being met. This has led to the West Indies team partaking in four tournaments while being uncontracted. Due to the unavailability of the top players in West Indies cricket, the WICB were forced to name a second-string squad captained by 37 year old Floyd Reifer, who had not played a Test in ten years.
Second-String West Indies Squad's Performance
In the test series at home against Bangladesh, the West Indies were demolished, losing the test series 2-0. The humiliating white-wash was also Bangladesh’s first overseas test series win.
In the ODI series which followed the WICB persevered with the under strength backup team, who were humiliated with another whitewash as Bangladesh rose to a 3-0 over the home team. A Twenty20 International victory was only a consolation to the West Indies, who went on to lose all of their preliminary Champions Trophy matches, causing them to be eliminated in the Group stage.
The row first looked to be on the mend when Dwayne Bravo stated that all of the striking West Indies players wished to be selected for the tour of Australia, and would be taking part in the WICB’s regional one day competition. This was a condition placed on players wishing to be selected for the tour of Australia.
International Response
Cricket Australia’s Chief Executive, James Sutherland, had previously feared that a second-string West Indies outfit would tour the country, leading to contingency plans being considered which would see Bangladesh or Zimbabwe touring Australia instead of the West Indies. “We're all very hopeful they resolve their issues,” Sutherland said in a press release on 13th October, “and see their best players playing against our best players”
Australian captain Ricky Ponting had also expressed concern at the possibility of a second-choice West Indies XI being utilized for the Australian summer.
The West Indies tour of Australia will begin on November 18th with a First-Class warm up match between the West Indians and Queensland. The first test will begin on November 26th in Brisbane.
