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[tim2000s]

Just seen the news that a dispute between the players and the board has resulted in them quitting the tour of India before the ODI series is complete and without any tests.  Bad for cricket globally methinks.  What is the WICB up to?

[iand123]

Sri Lanka to the rescue with 5 ODI's.

Cricket shoots itsself in the foot really. Not the FTP is being changed and relies on bi-lateral agreements i doubt we'll see India in the WI and vice versa for a while now.

Real shame is that 3 (i think) tests and a t20 is replaced by 5 ODI's. I know it was last minute but a real kick in the teeth for test cricket

[iand123]

Wonder if the BBCI will also take a dimmer view on WI players in the IPL too.

I saw Ramdin put on twitter an email with the players offer. Test match appearances were going up from $5k to $5.75k. Assume thats lower than other big countries but the WICB will have even less cash now they've upset India

[ilanz_bess]

Just to clarify, Tim, it's a dispute between the players and WIPA (the body who represents the players). Apparently the president of WIPA, Wavel Hinds, negoetiated a new collective bargaining agreement and MOU with WICB and the players are objecting to it. Think the new agreement calls for a pay cut and Hinds agreed to it. Players are asking for the WICB to intervine but WICB says they can only negoetiate with WIPA (a precedent set down by WIPA several years ago), and as a result the tour was cancelled. Basically the players are saying at their AGM, agreed to certain conditions but WIPA agreed to others with the WICB.

[TopShot]

Can West Indies cricket become even more of an embarrassment? To have the relationship between the board and players get to this point is staggering to say the least. How could it have come to this? Have the players no pride in representing their region anymore ? Could this not have been ironed out once the tour was over?  Why couldn't the board have made some kind of compromise to get this issue at least on hold until the tour was done?

The repercussions of this will be felt for years to come. I mean, God if there is anyone in cricket you didn't want to p1ss off right now it's the BCCI. I can't see the West Indies playing anyone apart from New Zealand and Bangladesh for years to come. Not to mention that New Zealand is streets ahead us in my opinion.

What's the point of West Indies circlet in 2014 anyway? Bunch of mercenaries who can only concentrate long enough to play t20 cricket. Embarrassing! Haven't won a test series against one of the leading nations in what 10 years? Maybe it's a good thing that all this crap is coming to light  because it will force changes to be made but will things get better?..I doubt it.

Rant over 

[smilley792]

I understand why 5 odis with Sri Lanka. As the world cup is coming up.


But. I think it would have been a good opportunity it to let the associate nations have a go.

India could play Ireland, Afghanistan, Holland, Hong Kong etc in a test each to see how they do!

[ppccopener]

The BCCI are already being quoted as never playing West Indies again and having them,and I quote 'punished'
The letter from the West Indies players is published on line on the guardian website.read it first and then ask yourself would you agree to those terms especially regarding image rights
Don't be too quick to hammer the players here...
And as for the BCCI,and the ECB as well,once they signed up with Australia to cut the financial pie to line their own pockets,they effectively made it 3 teams in the premier league and 7 others playing non league
It's an absolute disgrace and somewhere down the line world cricket will pay a very high price,and England are responsible too along with the BCCI.
That's my rant over

[ProCricketer1982]

 Players have too much ego and power. They are behaving more and more like footballers

The fans are treating it like football

The boards are greedy, money grabbing whores now, with no regard for the game. All decisions are money driven

Agents are ruining cricket as well as football

It's just very sad to see.

I've just seen the GCB tweeting about how happy everyone is from the ECB survey.. Sad times as win lose is pretty boring, leading he decline in quality and losing playing numbers with it

[ilanz_bess]

Again guys, it's not the fault of the WICB and or the players. The fault lies solely with WIPA, who negotiated with the WICB without consultation with the players. Based on initial reports in Trinidad, the players were willing to continue with the tour asking the WICB to revert to the old payment structure for this tour only, while a new MOU will be negotiated. However, I believe the WICB didn't agree, not sure about the reason. I usually agree that our players (WI) tend to be a bit too greedy with regards to money but after an interview with the former WIPA president, Ramnarine, the players who went on tourstand to lose something like 65% of their earnings  (image rights and so on) while those not selected may lose 80%. Let's be honest, no one working anywhere won't be pleased with this either.

See link
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/Sticking-with-WIPA-279383472.html

[mp07]

This decision will have a major drawback on WI cricket and their young talent.  I have a feeling its going to be a slow death for cricket in WI, plus they don't have any role models for young cricketers to look upto..

[ilanz_bess]

This decision will have a major drawback on WI cricket and their young talent.  I have a feeling its going to be a slow death for cricket in WI, plus they don't have any role models for young cricketers to look upto..

Agreed...

[TopShot]

I read that article and all I see there is a bunch of political double speak and bullsh......

I do understand the players having no confidence in Wavel for negotiating such a dramatic decrease I their salaries but...these are not poor men and they could have finished the tour and emerged with their pride intact. Instead they bring disgrace to themselves and all fans of West Indies cricket. This is a very short sighted decision which is typical of this T20 generation of players. The whole West Indies cricket board has been a shambles for decades so for things to get this bad should be no surprise....but it hurts, and it makes me sick.

The game in the region once so regal and a source of great national identity and pride is now polluted by scam artists and charlatans. The West Indies team which used to strike fear into the hearts of world cricket is now a laughing stock. The game is dying in the West Indies and no amount of useless, money spinning T20 tournaments can save it. Where we West Indians go from here I don't know. This is the lowest ebb.

Here is an article which seems to sum up this farcical decision fairly well
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/westindies/11170823/West-Indies-threat-to-quit-India-tour-could-backfire.html

[rahul_1987]

For once I thought WI were back on track with their cricket. They do have some very good cricketers and a very good prospect in ODI/T20 but now they will again suffer because of this fiasco

[TopShot]

Micheal Holding has just weighed in on the current farce. Very interesting article, just shows how incompetent the WICB is. Worst cricket organization out there.

http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-article/wicb-hung-players-dry/131231

[Sam]

I heard that the BCCI has the potential to sue the WICB for 4x their yearly profits or something around that which would clearly put them in bankruptcy.