The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has announced that President Dr Julian Hunte and other members of the Board will be meeting with members of the West Indies Team and representatives of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) in Barbados on Tuesday, March 24.
Dr Hunte also indicated that the 11th round of matches in the WICB’s Four-day Tournament will start today.
The matches are: Trinidad and Tobago against the Windward Islands in St Vincent, Barbados against the Leeward Islands in Barbados, and Jamaica against Combined Campuses and Colleges in Jamaica. Struggling Guyana drew the bye in this round.
This follows grouses the players are reported to have with the WICA. This was highlighted with the resignation of Dinanauth Ramnarine from the WICB and players not showing up for a few regional games, while West Indies players in the ODI at Providence wore duct tape on the Digicel logo on their shirt.
Ramnarine tendered his resignation after yet another dispute over contracts between the players and the board. An outspoken critic of the WICB and its previous leaders, Ramnarine has long fought for players’ rights and been the middle-man between the board and the players during frequent disputes over pay, sponsorship and other destabilising factors.
Ramnarine, who was elected president of the West Indies Players’ Association in 2002 and who was re-elected late last year, was brought onto the West Indies board in 2007 under the new leadership of Julian Hunte.
Ramnarine’s resignation comes after the West Indies team failed to turn up to a cocktail reception hosted by the sponsors on Wednesday night.
But yet again, it appears that payment and contracts are at the heart of Ramnarine’s decision to end his now “untenable” position.