NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was spared a major embarrassment after its leading players, who had issued a strike threat following a row with their own union, showed up for the tour opener against India today.
The WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) signed a new agreement last month covering pay and conditions but one-day captain Dwayne Bravo said players were kept in the dark about the talks and would not accept the outcome.
The WICB on Tuesday confirmed the threat of a players’ strike loomed over the match and must have been relieved as the players took the field in the south Indian city of Kochi for the first of five one-day internationals.
Asked at the toss about the mood in the camp, Bravo, who had earlier shot an angry letter to WIPA president Wavell Hinds, said it was “very good” and went on to explain the importance of the series against world champions India instead.
“We had a very good ODI series back home against Bangladesh,” he said, referring to the 3-0 sweep in August.
“Some of them did not play against the number one or number two ranked team in the world. It’s always a great opportunity for us to see where we are as an ODI team.”
The 31-year-old all-rounder, however, was scathing in his criticism of the payment agreement in his letter to Hinds published by the Caribbean website Wired868.com.
“We believe we are being hoodwinked and are being treated like little school boys, yet we are being asked to perform and play as professionals,” Bravo wrote.
“The players are of the view that as a matter of principle, we should not accept these conditions whereby we are being asked to play a series against India without any certainty of what are our obligations and what we will be playing for.”
WICB APOLOGY
The WICB said in a statement that they were aware of the dispute and confirmed the possibility of a strike.
“It has also come to the WICB’s attention that the some of the players could withdraw their services for the first ODI,” the statement read.
“The WICB deeply regrets this apparent eventuality, especially in light of the tedious and substantial work which went into the good faith negotiations to arrive at the new, historic (agreements).
“The WICB apologises to the fans, the BCCI (Indian board) and all other stakeholders should the first ODI be disrupted as a result of player action. The WICB is making every effort to ensure that it fulfils all its commitments and that cricket is played.”
In his letter, Bravo wrote that players were being asked to take a substantial loss as part of a deal they were not party to. He said the tour should be conducted under previous contractual terms until a solution was found.
WIPA was not immediately available for comment.
West Indies players last boycotted a series in 2009 when they, backed by WIPA, refused to play a home campaign against Bangladesh due to a previous contract dispute.
When top players went on strike, the WICB brought in a second-string squad to complete the series.
