(Trinidad Guardian) There is a plot among some regional administrators to remove Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), says president of WIPA Dinanath Ramnarine. The former Test leg-spinner made this remark during a press conference yesterday at WIPA’s offices on Edward Street, Port-of-Spain. Ganga was removed as T&T captain recently and also dropped from the T&T team for the upcoming regional T20 cricket series. Chris Gayle has been penalised for making comments about the WICB and CEO Ernest Hilliare and has not been selected on the regional team. Sarwan has been dropped by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and is now seeking an explanation to his axing.
Ramnarine said yesterday that there seems to be a master plan to get rid of these players because they are strong thinkers and because they are aligned with the West Indies Players Association. “I am seeing a movement to get rid of these strong thinkers. Ganga’s resignation as captain of the T&T team is unfortunate and there is more to it that is being said. I will speak about this more at a later date.” Ramnarine said he was not only blaming the T&T Cricket Board for this but also the WICB. “I think the decisions are coming from a higher authority. They have a plan to get rid of these guys by a certain time, so it will be easy sailing for them, with no one questioning them.”
Meanwhile, Ramnarine also revealed that the High Court in T&T has granted an extension to injunction filed by WIPA, to prevent the WICB from terminating the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The WICB had stated that if current negotiations between WIPA and WICB did not conclude by November 30, they would terminate the current MOU and CBA and according to Ramnarine this would leave the players at the board’s mercy. WIPA was forced to seek emergency judicial intervention from the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago against the WICB. On November 30, the High Court heard WIPA’s application for injunctive relief to prevent the WICB from terminating the agreements and ordered that the agreements and all the terms of the agreements shall be treated as if in full force and effect and binding until determination of the application.
Justice Ricky Rahim ordered the status be maintained and the matter was set for December 8, for WICB to present its case. After hearing arguments from attorneys of WICB and WIPA, Justice Rahim ordered that the injunction continue and requested further submissions in writing in January. This means that the terms the current agreement remains in force until 10. The matter is set for January 19, when the judge will decide whether to discharge the injunction or to grant a permanent injunction. If the judge discharge the injunction, according to Ramnarine: “It would be a sad day for the sport of cricket in the Caribbean. Cricket will end up in court on a regular basis and this would not be good for the people of the region.”
