Tony Becca
WELL, THERE is never a dull day in West Indies cricket and it appears that as long as the complement of the board, including its president, remains the same, as long as Dinanath Ramnarine remains the president of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), there will never ever be a dull day in West Indies cricket.
Every day, the board, before and during Gordon's reign,
keeps making mistakes, and Ramnarine, the aggressive Ramnarine, is always there to nail it for making those mistakes.
What is appalling, however, is that day after day they are the same mistakes and that the board keeps getting itself into a corner - so much so that despite those who previously sympathised with them are backing off one by one.
REASON FOR THE QUARREL
The latest quarrel between the board and WIPA stems from two things - from the proposed retainer contracts for the players, and for the proposed one-day series between West Indies and India in Canada and the reason for the quarrel is the fault of the board which has failed to abide by agreements with WIPA.
Re the players' retainer contract, it was agreed by the board and WIPA, that there would have been 10 players on contract, that there would have been certain criteria - one to four - used to pay the players, and that the contracts would have been signed by July 14.
As far as those things are concerned, however, contracts were offered to only seven players, and with no consultation with WIPA, the criteria has not been forwarded to WIPA and the contracts have not yet been signed.
The real problem with this quarrel, however, is that Dwayne Bravo, one of those expected to have been contracted, who was not contracted, according to the board, he was considered, but it was decided not to include him because he has a contract with Cable & Wireless - with TSTT in Port-of-Spain, and that was in conflict with Digicel which is the board's main sponsor.
As far as Ramnarine and WIPA are concerned, however, that is nonsense - and it is nonsense for the simple reason that Bravo signed his contract with TSTT in January of this year, long before the board had even started to look at who should be contracted, and that the agreement between the board and WIPA for player endorsement contracts states, among other things, that the "WICB acknowledges that the player may have and shall be entitled to fulfil obligations under pre-existing player endorsement contracts which predate this contract - which were entered into whilst not contracted to WICB".
In other words, in terms of a pre-existing contract, there is no difference between the contract which Brian Lara has with C&W and that which Bravo has with TSTT and yet one has been offered a contract and one has not.
And in terms of agreement, it is the same thing with the proposed series in Canada.
There is an agreement between the board and WIPA that says the board must present to the association a programme of matches for the regional competitions each year, and that although it is understood that the board may from time to time have to amend its international fixtures according to the demands of the ICC, there is also an agreement that says the board will not agree to increase the number of matches scheduled to be played under the overseas programme during a year without reaching prior agreement with WIPA.
Despite that agreement, however, Gordon - the president, who, it is said, went against the advice of the selectors and offered the West Indies captaincy to Lara without the knowledge of the board members - went to London and committed the West Indies to play India in Canada without discussing it with WIPA.
TIMES HAVE CHANGED
While there is no doubt that agreements between the board and WIPA have diminished the control by the board over the players, times have changed, and although one would not like to see things get to a situation where the board has no say in West Indies cricket, if it is to
survive, the attitude of those who run West Indies cricket, has to change.
As it is, certainly in Australia, England, South Africa and India, West Indies cricket needs people with a passion for the game, a love and respect for the players.
Although the board got rid of the "control" part of its name under the presidency of Pat Rousseau, no one likes to give up control. Having given up control, however, having been forced, whether by expediency or by common sense, to give up control by sensibly entering into agreements, the board is begging for even more trouble if it fails to act based on what it has agreed to do.
Ramnarine's words on Wednesday were words of warning - probably the promise of another strike, this time possibly for the ICC Champions Trophy for which West Indies are the defending champions.
The ICC Champions Trophy is slated for October in India and in talking about Bravo and the board, Ramnarine's words were, "the Players Association, the union, would have to take such steps as to protect the rights and interests of its members as we deem necessary".
