AS many as 30 players, among them those who pulled out of the recent home series against Bangladesh, are expected to sign year-long retainer contracts with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) by the weekend.
It follows the agreement between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), initialled on Monday by the respective presidents and aimed at ending their acrimonious, long-running dispute that has brought West Indies cricket to its knees.
It means that the way is clear for all the players to be available for selection for the series of three Tests in Australia in November and December, a tour that was in some doubt had a second-string team been chosen.
A source close to the negotiations said yesterday that the relevant players were expected to be named by the West Indies selectors and vetted by the WICB and the WIPA.
Contract details have been at the core of the prolonged disagreements between the WICB and the WIPA. They have caused two strikes by the leading players and the fielding of severely weakened teams and heavy defeats in series away against Sri Lanka in 2005 and at home against Bangladesh and in the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa this year.
Those players previously with retainers refused to renew their contracts by October 1 last year, as is required under the WICB’s agreement with main sponsors, Digicel.
It led to a hefty financial penalty for the WICB but Digicel approved a delay until December 31 this year to allow the two organisations to rectify the situation.
There are reportedly four categories under the new arrangement, based mainly on record and experience. The top is worth US$120,000, the second US$80,000 and the third US$60,000. A fourth, worth US$24,000, covers principally development players.
This is on top of a share of sponsorship money and fees of US$5,000 per Test, US$2,000 per One-Day International and US$1,500 per Twenty20 International.
The accord, signed by WICB president Julian Hunte and WIPA head Dinanath Ramnarine after a three-day meeting, was announced in a joint statement issued by the WIPA on Tuesday.
It said that “nearly all outstanding matters in dispute between the two bodies have been settled amicably”.
It revealed that the “outstanding matters” concerned players’ fees for the four ODIs against India in the Caribbean last June and July and the issue of ‘team rights’.
These will be referred to a special arbitration process as set out in the recommendations of the Caricom prime ministerial sub-committee on cricket given on September 21 that was agreed to by both bodies.
Under the latest pact, the WICB has reportedly dropped its charges against players for breaching its code of discipline by shunning the official launch of next year’s World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean and refusing to play in the first Test against Bangladesh after they were selected.
Worried by the effect of having to host a decimated West Indies team, Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland had acknowledged that his organization was making contingency plans but said he was encouraged by the new developments.
“Not having the best West Indians playing for West Indies damages West Indies cricket and world cricket, and we’re all very hopeful they resolve their issues and see their best players playing against our best players,” he said. “The issue is between their board and their players’ association, but I am certainly more optimistic than I have been in previous months.”
Although signed, sealed and delivered, the accord between the WICB and the WIPA now has to be implemented, a process that, given previous history, could prove delicate.
“Both parties are pleased that the agreement reached creates an environment to engage in building a genuine partnership that can ensure the long term development and progress of West Indies cricket,” was how Tuesday’s statement ended.
There was a familiar ring to the language.
When Ramnarine and then WICB president Ken Gordon signed an “agreement of principles” in August, 2006, after similar upheavals over contracts, they stated that “both parties commit themselves to engage in a relationship of mutual respect and the honouring of all agreements arrived at between the parties”.
Such expectations did not last very long.
