Talks may resolve battle between board and players

Discussions are to take place next Thursday between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the regional players' body, after the board answered calls to come to the table in a bid to resolve their latest argument - this time over a players' training camp.

Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), invited the board to talks to temper the growing friction between the two bodies, which had been made worse after the board invited 25 players to attend the camp ahead of the tour of Australia in 2005 without first consulting WIPA.

Following the snub, the WIPA had asked the players not to sign the letters of invitation as Ramnarine said the players could be left open to commercial exploitation in some cases. "It is to be noted that some of the conditions stipulated by the WICB have nothing to do with cricket," he said, "but represent an attempt to exploit the players for commercial purposes."

The board, meanwhile, issued a press release expressing their disappointment at the developments. "The West Indies Cricket Board is disappointed at the reported instruction issued to its members by the West Indies Players Association not to sign letters of invitation," it said.

But Ramnarine hopes that the talks will bring the matter to a head. "[The WIPA] calls on the board to return to the bargaining table in order that the parties can achieve a mutually satisfactory resolution of the issues involved," he said.

This is not the first time that the two bodies have clashed. In March 2003, the players answered their unions' call to strike over the allocation of sponsorship money. The regional first-class semi-finals were put on hold until a solution was agreed. The WIPA has also twice threatened strikes over pay in the last three years.