Dispute with national board results in Chris Gayle and his west indies teammates pulling out of the home series against bangladesh starting thursday
Dispute with National Board results in Chris Gayle and his West Indies teammates pulling out of the home series against Bangladesh starting thursday
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The WIPA have been locking horns with the West Indies Cricket Board for several months over players' contracts and the situation has reached a head with the series scheduled to start on Thursday.
Bangladesh are due to play two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 match in the Caribbean. But the first Test is now in serious doubt following the statement from Ramnarine yesterday.
At a press conference at the Queen's Park Oval, Ramnarine hit out at the WICB for their handling of players' retainer contracts, claiming the governing body have not delivered on their side of an agreement reached in 2007.
"The fact remains that the players have played their last four tournaments without a contract," he said.
"I repeat the players have played their last four series without a contract. They are now being asked to play their fifth consecutive series without a contract which is highly unacceptable.
"When a player called me last week and asked what was the position with regards to his injury while playing cricket for the West Indies in the just concluded Twenty20 World Cup, my response was that there was no written contract in place and therefore any action that would have to be taken, would have to be taken in that context. Professional sportsmen should not be allowed to play any sport that has such a high risk without the necessary protection."
The WIPA and WICB met during the recent series with England where, the WIPA claim, agreement was reached on "a number of issues, some of which were outstanding since 2007".
As well as the issue of retainer contracts, the WIPA are claiming various match payments are outstanding and are in dispute over image rights.
The statement continued: "It is in this regard that WIPA met with the players in St Lucia on Saturday for three hours. The decision was taken that if the WICB did not meet with WIPA to resolve outstanding issues, the players would not make themselves available to participate in the Bangladesh series. We wrote to the WICB to meet on Monday and Tuesday, but unfortunately they have not responded.
"Having considered the situation carefully and dispassionately, and bearing in mind their own welfare without ignoring the concern of other stakeholders, the players have requested me to inform the WICB, sponsors and the public that, regretfully, they cannot with immediate effect continue playing without any contracts with the WICB."
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