(Trinidad Express) After years of refusing offers, senior West Indies players Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle players have decided to once more sign West Indies Cricket Board retainer contracts for the 2013 to 2014 period.
For Gayle and Bravo, the move represents a turnaround after they last refused WICB retainer contracts back in 2010. But the third man who did not sign on that year, Kieron Pollard, is still not on the list of retained players. However, off-spinner Sunil Narine, who had once previously opted out of a contract is now on the list which also includes prolific Test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Gayle, West Indies captain at the time, refused to sign onto a retainer contract in 2010 when WICB’s CEO was Ernest Hilaire. He was replaced by Darren Sammy as regional captain later that year.
But new WICB CEO Michael Muirhead says Gayle and Bravo’s willingness to enter into contracts with the WICB at this time speaks for itself.
“I would like to believe it was a re-commitment to West Indies cricket from both of them ( Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle),” the CEO told the Express yesterday. “They were advised that they were being awarded contracts and they accepted, so it augurs well for West Indies cricket and we really did not have to go into negotiations or anything, so it means that they are re-committed to West Indies cricket and the fact they are presenting themselves, making themselves available at the expense of the other leagues speaks for itself so I am happy about that.”
Asked if Gayle and Bravo’s contractual agreement would limit them from participating in other leagues like the IPL, Big Bash etc, Muirhead said;” We are actually going to be having discussions with WIPA in terms of our approach to the No Objection Certificate (NOC) when they go to the various tournaments but it has to be a win-win situation.
For West Indies cricket to thrive and to grow they have to make themselves available. At the same time, we don’t want to limit the amount or prevent their opportunities to earn,” he said.
He said it was worked out that this year the West Indies does not have any scheduled matches or tours during the period of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) or the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“By virtue of not doing that (scheduling matches during that period), we have given them that window which they can take advantage of ,” Muirhead said.
About the NOCs which were a matter of dispute between WIPA and the WICB that landed in court, Muirhead said both parties are now working at settling the issue.
“ It is still in train. We go back to court shortly but the court had asked us to resolve the issues ourselves. We have been going back and forth and now we have something on the table, so we hope that when we go to court next time, we are very close to having an agreement and it would not require the judge to make a decision.”
List of men’s players on Central Retainer Contracts 2013-2014 (with category)
Dwayne Bravo (A)
Shiv Chanderpaul (A)
Chris Gayle (A)
Sunil Narine (A)
Darren Sammy (A)
Marlon Samuels (A)
Kemar Roach (B)
Tino Best (C)
Darren Bravo (C)
Johnson Charles (C)
Kirk Edwards (C)
Kieran Powell (C)
Denesh Ramdin (C)
Ravi Rampaul (C)
Shane Shillingford (C)
List of women’s players on Central Retainer
Contracts 2013-2014 (with category)
Shanel Daley (A)
Anisa Mohammed (A)
Deandra Dottin (A)
Stafanie Taylor (A)
Merissa Aguilleira (B)
Shemaine Campbell (B)
Subrina Munroe (B)
Shaquana Quintyne (B)
Shakera Selman (B)
Tremayne Smartt (B)