BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) hailed as a critical turning point in West Indies cricket, were inked on Thursday between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).
President Dave Cameron signed on behalf of the WICB while WIPA president Wavell Hinds penned the deal for the players association during a ceremony at the Accra Beach Hotel in Barbados.
Hinds has hailed the CBA and MOU as a watershed moment in the history of the game in the region while Cameron has hailed the signing a new partnership to advance the sport in the region.
“This CBA and MOU covers everybody in full and will look to take care of the players in West Indies cricket,” said Hinds, a former Jamaica captain and West Indies batsman.
“This means stability and means we are operating in an environment which speaks to partnership and putting West Indies Cricket first. It will make sure that the pillars are in place to look after the players and the key stakeholders of West Indies Cricket – who are the fans.”
The signing ceremony was also attended by Clive Lloyd, former West Indies captain and Chairman of Selectors; Michael Muirhead, Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, and Richard Pybus, Director of Cricket of the WICB.
The CBA and MOU cover 105 cricketers in the region who will be involved in the sport all year round.
15 will part of the regional team on international assignment while 90 will participate at the regional franchise level.
“The one word to stress is partnership. Right through the theme is partnership. Everything we have done we have done in partnership,” said Cameron.
“This is the most important thing we have done for West Indies cricket in the last couple of years”.
Meantime the regional season will start in November and run until next March – including the Regional Four-day Championship and the Nagico Regional Super50 tournament, expected to be played in Trinidad & Tobago
“There is nothing revolutionary about this. This is what is best practiced across the world and this is the direction we need to go,” said Pybus.
“This is going to be fantastic for the players. We will have structured support mechanisms for the players and provide for them better and provide a competitive wage in a competitive marketplace which is going to be fantastic in terms of the product we put on the field.”
