Dear Editor,
Here we go again: another row over money between the West Indian cricketers and the WICB. It seems as if the quarrel is the same as two years ago where the players have rejected the West Indian Players Association (WIPA) as their bargaining agent and as a result the captain of the T20 team has written the WICB expressing the concerns of the players.
Remuneration was the reason why the players refused to play in India in October 2014 which caused the tour to be aborted with a debt of more than US$30 million to the Indian Cricket Board. It was a very embarrassing situation for the WICB, the players, the Caribbean and fans throughout the cricketing world, and it is rather surprising and very disturbing that the problem has arisen again.
The WICB on Wednesday issued a press release summarizing a meeting with board officials, two prime ministers, the WIPA President, the WICB President and Vice President, senior players and a brief summary of what has transpired since that October 2014 meeting. The release stated that the WICB after receiving the letter from the Captain has been in dialogue with the Captain and the rest of the team.
All the selected players have contracts and they are due to be signed by Sunday, February 14. Reports state that the players are demanding more pay than what is now offered which is 75 per cent less than what was in the previous agreement.
The board is not prepared to accede to the request and says that if the players refuse to sign their contract they will select other players.
The World Cup is due to start on March 8 and conclude on April 3. Money seems to be the order of the day. Former Guyanese Test cricketer Basil Butcher who played 44 Test matches scored 3104 runs from 1958 to 1969 and was Wisden cricketer of the Year in 1970, said he did not earn any money from cricket. He never played League cricket. Butcher said that he played for the love of the game and his country and the wider Caribbean.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Ramjeet
