WICB ignores union as talks fail

Published August 6, 2006

BRIDGETOWN, Aug 5: A 14-man West Indies cricket squad was named on Friday to play in a tri-series with India and Australia despite the administrators failing to settle tour contracts with the players.

The West Indies Cricket Board claimed “totally unreasonable” monetary demands forced it to ignore the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and approach selected players individually.

The WICB admitted talks between its representative, Deryck Murray, and WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine broke down on Wednesday and further discussions between Ramnarine and WICB president Ken Gordon also led nowhere.

Ramnarine said on Thursday he believed a settlement was imminent.

The board said the one-day tournament in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, in which West Indies will play a maximum of five matches, could earn each of the most inexperienced players US$25,000 and the senior players up to $59,000.

WICB said this represented 25 per cent of the net revenue to be paid to the WICB for the series and was a 488 per cent raise on normal tour fees.

WIPA, the WICB claimed, demanded 40 per cent of the net revenue, with fees ranging from $40,00 to 95,000.

A predictable 14 was chosen, with Brian Lara named as captain after he placated the board by his recent apology for an outburst during the Test series against India.

The WICB added the selected players had until Thursday to accept the invitations and that replacements would be chosen if those chosen did not agree to the terms to appear in the series.

Squad: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Carlton Baugh, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds.—AP

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