By Tony Becca - From The Boundary 
Tony Becca
THE SEMI-FINALS of the Carib Beer International Shield are scheduled for today in Barbados and Guyana and news coming out of Port of Spain and St. John's are that the players, through the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), plan to use the occasion to stage a protest.
The protest is to back demands on the West Indies Cricket Board for compensation to West Indies players injured on tour and for increased fees for players in regional competitions, according to the association, the negotiation is taking too long, and that is the reason for it.
"The only time the West Indies Cricket Board actually responds to us is when we actually decide to take some sort of action," said WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine on Wednesday.
According to the Board, however, that is not so - certainly not as far as the fees for regional cricket is concerned.
According to the Board, it responded to that demand in February when it offered an increase to the players - 20 per cent to those without international experience and 10 per cent to those with international experience.
Based on releases from both the association and the Board, the problems seem to be that the Board does not accept WIPA as the representatives of the players participating in the regional competitions and that WIPA wants more money for the players participating in the competitions.
"The facts are that in January this year, the WICB asked WIPA to support their claim of representing all of the players participating in senior domestic competitions with documentation showing their membership of WIPA and consent to be bound by the organisation's negotiations," said a release from the WICB on Wednesday.
"The West Indies Players Association wishes to advise that contrary to media reports no settlement has been reached with respect to an increase for fees for players participating in the Carib Beer 2003 Series," said WIPA in a release in February.
According to the Board, although it had agreed to discuss issues pertaining to other regional players and had proposed a meeting for yesterday some three weeks ago, it only recognises WIPA as the representative of West Indies players for international competitions and that is how it should be.
Unless it has changed recently, and quietly at that, only West Indies players are members of WIPA and WIPA has always only represented West Indies players.
Whatever the problems, regardless of who are right and who are wrong, and remembering the embarrassment in Antigua recently when the sponsors of the team to the World Cup were snobbed by the players, West Indies cricket cannot afford another confrontation between the Board and the players, and in the interest of West Indies cricket, the players, through WIPA, should understand that.
Sponsorship is important to West Indies cricket, another confrontation could turn off sponsors - especially if it affects them, and based on what some of the players have been saying, the type of protest planned will affect them.
Although there has been talk of one, it does not seem that there will be a strike. The latest talk is that the players will not wear the sponsors shirt in the semi-finals, and if that happens, God help West Indies cricket.
Hopefully, commonsense will prevail and it will not happen.
If the players refuse to wear their shirt, the sponsors will not be pleased - and neither will those who could be sponsors in the future.
There is nothing wrong with wanting more money, and although, based on the attendance at matches, hardly anyone goes to watch them play, the players who do not represent the West Indies do deserve more.
In demanding more money, however, the players should remember that the Board, which has offered an increase totalling US$250,000 a season, can only give from what it has and that it has other obligations - including the development of young players.
As far as the West Indies players are concerned, they should also remember that in the context of the society in which they live they are well paid, that if they were paid according to performance they would not be so well paid, and that if it was left to their performance, the Board would now be bankrupt.
The players should also remember that West Indies cricket cannot do without sponsors, and as good as they may be or believe they are, neither can they.
