Windies relent for now, turn up for opening ODI against India

Kochi, Oct 8: The West Indies cricket team today decided not to boycott the opening ODI against India here but the side's tour remained in jeopardy over an acrimonious pay dispute with its parent body.

Skipper Dwayne Bravo came out for the toss to put an end to the speculation that the Caribbeans may boycott the match to protest against the contracts handed out to them by the West Indies Cricket Board which would have resulted in a 75 per cent cut in their salaries.

However, the matter is far from over with the players insisting that they reserve the right to take the "best course of action" if the dispute is not resolved.

"After much consideration, the West Indies players have decided to participate in the 1st One Day International against India. This decision should not in any way be construed as an acceptance by the players of the unreasonable terms and conditions put forward to us by WICB nor is it an acceptance of the purported new Memorandum of Understanding," Bravo said in a letter to Players' Association chief Wavell Hinds.

"The Players will not accept any agreement it has had no input in, did not give its consent to and which would infringe on its rights. We reserve all of our rights and intend to seek independent advice so as to establish the players best course of action," the letter, published by 'ESPNCricinfo', stated.

"...we wish to reiterate our position put forward to the WICB earlier, that we continue under the old structure until a new agreement is reached between the players and WICB. Neither the WICB nor the players would be in a disadvantageous position since this would have been mutually agreed by the parties. This we believe is a sensible and reasonable approach for all concerned."

Earlier, in an extraordinary turn of events, the team's tour of India was left hanging in balance after the aggrieved players threatened to go on strike over the pay dispute.

Barely a day before the series, the cricket team led by Dwayne Bravo shot off a letter to the West Indies Cricket Board and the Players Association, threatening to go on strike.

The team had yesterday skipped the practice session, the pre-match press conference and the trophy unveiling ceremony as it held negotiations to diffuse the crisis after being handed contracts which would see their pay go down by approximately 75 per cent. The new contracts were given to the players after they reached India.

The players are also disgruntled with the West Indies Players Association president and chief executive Wavell Hinds for agreeing to the terms without consulting them.

According to reports, the players claimed Hinds "hoodwinked" them and did not take their inputs while signing a new MoU with West Indies Cricket Board last month, under which they would suffer a significant cut in their pay.

In a strongly-worded letter to WIPA and WICB, Bravo wrote: "We wish to make it very clear that should the players be forced to take matters into their our own hands, we will not hesitate to take the appropriate action as we see fit. We will hold you and the WIPA Board, who support this process, liable."

"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."

"...the players here in India are under tremendous stress and the team morale is at an all-time low. We believe that this present WIPA Executive under your leadership has failed to properly represent the best interest of ALL the players," Bravo wrote.

"Many are questioning whether there is now some "special relationship" between the WICB and WIPA which may be good for some but has not taken into account the whole picture resulting in the what may be seen as embarrassing and demonizing some players who represent the WI, yet signalling to public that this new purported agreement (MOU) is in the best interest of West Indies Cricket."

"As indicated in our earlier correspondence the reduction is unacceptable and as one of our members put it 'it is ridiculously insane' when one considers the massive cuts based on the information we have received."

Bravo also asked whether the WICB officials would agree to such massive pay cuts for themselves.

In response, the WICB issued a press release tendering its apology "to the fans, the BCCI and all other stakeholders should the first ODI be disrupted as a result of player action.

The Board said that the "the WICB is making every effort to ensure that it fulfils all its commitments and that cricket is played."

As per the new MoU, the players "understand" their Test, ODI and T20 fees "have been decreased by 75 per cent"; that they will receive "no compensation for the use of our rights. That has been decreased by 100 per cent"; and their ICC fees have been "decreased by close to 100 per cent".

The players said they were being kept in the dark about the "purported agreement". Bravo and his team-mates insisted that they want the old structure back as the new one is "significantly different from what we received in the past."

Meanwhile the WICB said in a statement: "It has also come to the WICB's attention that the some of the players could withdraw their services for the first ODI. 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 CBA/MOU."

This is not first time that the players are locked in a pay dispute with the WICB. The players have threatened to go on strike in those instances as well but have ultimately come around after hectic negotiations.

Earlier report:

West Indies threaten to boycott India series opener

Oct 8: A strike could hit West Indies' tour opener against India on Wednesday due to a row between leading West Indies players and their own union.

The match in Kochi, where the teams are already assembled, is the first of five one-day internationals to be followed by three test matches and a Twenty20 international.

The West Indies Players Assocation (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) signed a new agreement last month covering pay and conditions but all-rounder Dwayne Bravo said players were kept in the dark about the talks and would not accept the outcome.

"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 in a letter to WIPA president Wavell Hinds published by the Caribbean website Wired868.com.

"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."

The WICB said in a statement on Tuesday that they were aware of the dispute and 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 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 CBA/MOU.

"The WICB apologises to the fans, the BCCI 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 fulfills all its commitments and that cricket is played," said the statement.

Bravo wrote in his letter 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.

Bravo suggested that WIPA chief Hinds may be suffering from a conflict of interests.

"Perhaps Mr. Hinds, the confusion of the plethora of positions that you occupy being Chairman of Selectors for Jamaica Senior team, a Board member of the Jamaica Cricket Association and the dual role of President and CEO of WIPA have in some way contributed to the confusion or perhaps being a member of the same club as (WICB president Dave) Cameron in some way may have clouded your judgment," he wrote.

A WIPA press release regarding the signing of the new collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 18 noted that the arrangement would see better deals for players outside of the full West Indies team with more than 100 players being kept on retainers.

According to WIPA secretary Wayne Lewis, it "involved allowing the WICB to reallocate about $2.3 million which represented amounts paid annually only to those cricketers who were selected to the senior WI team."