THE IMPASSE between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and a number of its players could have serious repercussions for West Indies cricket.
In preparing for a triangular one-day tournament in Australia next January, the WICB requested that the 25 players invited to take part in a three-week camp in Barbados sign a contract that, according to the Board, is in the best interest of West Indies cricket, its major sponsors and the players.
According to the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), however, the contract handed the board total control of the players without any compensation, and after a meeting with the board that ended in a stand-off, WIPA instructed the players not to sign.
The deadline to return the signed contracts to the WICB was Tuesday; at that time only nine players had signed, as many as 16 had not, and in response, the board ordered its selectors to replace those who had not signed. With only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell as considered certainties for the team listed among those who have signed, the West Indies team to Australia would, therefore, be nothing more than a second XI at best.
With Australia hinting that they will not accept such a team, unless a solution is found, one of the repercussions would be the embarrassing absence of a West Indies team in Australia. Another could be the festering of relationships between the board and the players a relationship that in recent years has seen many showdowns, including the infamous players' strike preceding the tour of South Africa in 1998.
According to the board, there is nothing wrong with the contract. The players, it has said, are simply required to agree that they will not do anything that constitutes a player endorsement in relation to a competitor of a WICB major sponsor while representing the West Indies, unless he has a pre-existing agreement with such a competitor that was approved in writing by the WICB. That is common practice and nothing is wrong with that.
According to WIPA, however, it is more than that. WIPA's contention is that the contract is in conflict with previous contracts as far as the players' rights are concerned. It is of the view that the board has sold rights, the players' rights, which it does not have, which it is now attempting to acquire, and for which it is not prepared to compensate the players.
The board, it appears, is attempting to get out of a messy situation a situation in which Digicel is now its major sponsor and a number of its top players have signed promotional contracts with Cable & Wireless, its major sponsor for 22 years and a competitor of Digicel. The WICB has a right, an obligation, to protect its sponsors and the players have a right to earn money from endorsements.
A solution, therefore, must be found. Someone has to make peace, and with WIPA standing firm on behalf of the players, it is the board that should do so and then plan for next time. The board has a responsibility to protect the game at all times; it should have seen the problem coming, it should have acted long ago, and it should, therefore, make every attempt to solve the problem and thus protect the image of West Indies cricket.
