I surely hope they can solve this and we can see some great cricket again from out the West Indies. There is a tour of West Indies in Australia after the Super Series. I hope they solve it before then.

WI chief proposes solution to end dispute
Cricinfo staff
August 13, 2005

In a bid to end the impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), Ken Gordon, the new WICB president, disclosed the board's intentions to introduce central contracts by the end of the year.
Currently, the players are given contracts for every tour, whereas most players in other countries are contracted throughout the year, providing additional stability with the sole responsibility of training for, and playing, cricket.

"In recent times, we've had discussions from people in places like Australia and England," Gordon was quoted as saying in The Trinidad Express, "but what was responsible, particularly in the English team, for transforming the team from the relatively indifferent performances you had five or six years ago to the hard, professional unit they have become - and in every case we were told - [was] that it was putting the players under contract, so the players had contracts where they worked full time at cricket.

"Our first task is to resolve the WICB and WIPA conflict," he continued. "We've set that as a clear and distinct objective to be achieved before the end of December, and hopefully well before that. Second is to finalise arrangements to place on contract a minimum of 10 players for the West Indies team."

Moving in the same direction, the players association has called on Tim May, the chief executive officer of the Federation of International Cricket Associations, to help resolve the contract dispute, which has kept several top players like Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle out of the game, and resulted in a second string squad being sent to Sri Lanka.

"Mr May will be meeting with us to give his experience of dealing with similar situations that have arisen in the Caribbean recently and pass on some of his knowledge of dealing with such a situation," Ramnarine told the Trinidad Guardian. May is also expected to meet with Gordon.

May, who recently resigned as the chief executive officer of Australian Players Association, is vastly experienced in players' issues, and is also responsible for negotiating with the ICC on behalf of all players who participate in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

© Cricinfo

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well i think the central contract system is a good move if it an be employed
aminly becuz it means that the palyers have a source of income during the off season too and are not chasing advertisers to make commercials outta them.
if so i would like to the full stregth Wi side come out against the Aussies with a sublime Lara in form
what a sight!

Now almost every team is facing these kind of conflicts...players' indivdual contract vs board contract....and it started with India during the last WC....so interesting, everybody is after the money.

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May confident of solution to dispute



Tim May, the CEO of the Federation of International Cricketers' Association, has said that following a full briefing by the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) and informal discussions with members of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) he was confident that the ongoing dispute between the two would be resolved in the short term.

The dispute has led to a number of players being unavailable for selection for the West Indies, including high profile names such as Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan. The essence of the major dispute surrounds the commercial use of player attributes and restrictions that WICB seek to impose on players' personal endorsement ability.

While May was confident that the matters could be solved, he supported the players' position on the matter, stating that the existing terms and conditions on the table were simply unacceptable and represented terms that no player association could accept.

May believed that the recent election of Ken Gordon to the WICB presidency would have a positive effect upon the stalemate and that the mood of negotiation would change from impasse to one where all parties would work together to find a solution that would satisfy all parties. "At present the interests of all of the key parties are not being served," he said. "Whether it be WICB, the players, the sponsor, the West Indies' cricketing public or world cricket, all parties are suffering as a result of this dispute.

"After discussions with key personnel from both sides of the dispute, I am confident that the mood of the negotiations will be conducted with a more positive and respectful manner and a solution will brokered in the short term."

May hopeful of WI settlement

ST JOHN’S, Antigua: The long-running contracts dispute involving West Indies cricket could finally be drawing to a conclusion.

Tim May, Chief Executive of Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations chief executive, has held talks with both sides. He said he was confident "a solution will be brokered in short term."

Ten players, including Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, missed a recent tour to Sri Lanka because of the dispute. But the issue has seen West Indies Cricket Board and West Indies Players’ Association at loggerheads for much of the year.

"At present interests of all key parties are not being served. Whether it be WICB, players, sponsor, West Indies cricketing public or world cricket, all parties are suffering as a result of this dispute," said May.

There have been a number of significant changes of personnel, with Ken Gordon elected as WICB president in place of Teddy Griffith.

Former West Indies opening batsman Desmond Haynes has, meanwhile, resigned as Wipa secretary in order to join the board. He said: "There is need for lot of healing." WICB is hoping to to put 10 players on central contracts by end of the year, a policy which has helped bring success in other countries.

But Gordon admitted the plan cannot be implemented until current dispute is settled.

"We’ve set that as a clear and distinct objective to be achieved before end of December, and hopefully well before that," he said.