Sport

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

West Indies captain Chris Gayle has refused a central retainer contract offer from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Gayle is the third player to have rejected the central retainer contract from the WICB, following Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard.

Gayle was earlier granted an extension by the WICB to make a decision on the contract offer. The contract period runs from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011.

The contracts were offered on four scales - A, B, C and Development.

The A contracts are valued at US$120,000 (J$10,285,200 million) per annum; B - US$100,000 (J$8,571,000m); C - $US$80,000 (J$6,856,800m); and Development - US$24,000 (J$2,057,040m).

Both Gayle and Bravo were offered A contracts, while Pollard was offered a C contract.

Contract

Gayle and Bravo's snub has left Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the only member of the team with an A contract.

According to a release, "the WICB has written to Gayle, Bravo and Pollard seeking details of the issues which caused them not to take up the offer, in an attempt to understand same and so that the issues can be addressed for future contract offers."

Despite their position, the three players will still be eligible to represent the West Indies, as long as they meet the board's selection criteria.

Additionally, according to the WICB, the possession of a retainer contract is not a prerequisite for selection to the West Indies team.

Meanwhile, the refusal of the trio has led to a lucky break for the Jamaican trio of David Bernard Jr, Andre Russell and wicketkeeper-batsman Carlton Baugh Jr, who were upgraded from development to central contracts.

The trio were listed among eight players for developmental contracts.

They join batsman Brendan Nash and spinner Nikita Miller as Jamaicans among those centrally contracted.

Miller says he was not surprised.

"It was not really a surprise as when I look back prior to my injury, I think I was showing some amount of improvement," Miller, who was on a development contract last year, told The Gleaner yesterday.

He added: "It's a plus to get a central retainer, which is like security for me to continue working on improving myself so that I can help the team to move up to the next level."

Another Jamaican, wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton, who plays for the Combined Campuses and Colleges in regional competitions, has a development contract.

The board's CEO, Dr Ernest Hilaire, was delighted that there are enough players who seem committed to the regional team's cause.

"The WICB is delighted to have a full complement of players on Central Retainer and Develop-mental contracts," he said in the release.

"We see this as a clear demonstration by the players themselves that they are committed to working with the WICB towards the development and success of West Indies cricket," he added.

WICB contracted players: Category A - Shivnarine Chander-paul. Category B - Sulieman Benn, Darren Sammy. Category C - Kemar Roach, Brendan Nash, Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Shane Shillingford, Nikita Miller, Devon Smith, Ravi Rampaul, Nelon Pascal, David Bernard Jr., Andre Russell, Carlton Baugh Jr. Developmental Contracts - Kirk Edwards, Gavin Tonge, Andre Fletcher, Chadwick Walton, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin, Imran Khan and Kevin Stoute.