West Indies board aware of looming strike by players

St. John's (Antigua), Oct 8 (IANS/CMC) The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) confirmed that it is aware of a looming strike by its players who are currently touring India.

The West Indies are scheduled to play India in five One-Day Internationals (ODI), one Twenty20 International and three Tests, starting Wednesday, reports CMC.

A WICB statement issued late Tuesday said players have expressed their concern to the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) about several issues relating to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

“The WICB has been advised that a number of players forming the West Indies ODI squad currently in India and scheduled to play five ODIs, commencing with the first ODI Wednesday, have expressed concerns to WIPA on a number of issues relating to the CBA/MOU recently signed by WICB and WIPA,” said the statement.

“It has also come to the WICB’s attention that 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 board said.

However, despite the threat, the West Indies players went ahead to play in the first ODI in Kochi.

The threat of strike comes less than three weeks after the WICB and WIPA signed the MOU/CBA. It is understood that under the terms of the new MOU/CBA, a portion of the revenue, previously divided among the West Indies players, would now be shared by the wider membership of the WIPA.

Additionally, the players would no longer be entitled to a 25 percent share of income the WICB secured from International Cricket Council (ICC) events.

--IANS/CMC