Roland Holder steps down as secretary of WIPA

Roland Holder has decided to resign from the post of secretary of the West Indies Players' Association. Holder, the former West Indian batsman, felt that the association had become too confrontational, and quit the post that he had held since 1996.

"WIPA has gone in a direction I'm not totally comfortable with," said Holder, 36, in a conversation with Weekend Sports. "I've become less and less involved and times change, people change and views change. We [WIPA] have become very confrontational. When I started, the view was that we should work with the West Indies Cricket Board and other stakeholders. These confrontations have led to some challenges and I prefer not to be involved."

Though he didn't spell it out, Holder was clearly referring to the recent disagreements between the players' association and the West Indian board, the latest of which was the row that was triggered when Digicel were signed up as the sponsor of the national team. Several players protested, through the players' association, about their image rights being compromised as they had existing agreements with rival companies.

Holder, who played 11 Tests between 1996 and 1999, was appointed as the manager of the Barbados team earlier this week. He will take over from Tony Howard for the upcoming Carib Beer Series, which begins on January 7, as Barbados look to defend their title.