FICA hopes to engage with West Indies players

The arrival of five West Indies cricketers to play in South Africa's domestic T20 competition, which starts on November 2, could provide the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations an opportunity to engage them about the ongoing dispute with their board.

Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Andre Russell will participate in the tournament and FICA's executive chairman Tony Irish, who is also chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association, told ESPNcricinfo he will use the next few weeks to try and discuss the fracas with the quintet.

"It's a positive from a FICA point of view that these players will be in South Africa because it will allow us to engage with them and try and resolve the issue," Irish said. "I'm looking forward to talking to them over the next few weeks." While Irish said FICA has been "doing what we can at this stage," he was not in a position to offer any other comment on where the process was at currently.

ESPNcricinfo understands that neither the West Indies players nor their board have yet responded to requests for offers of mediation.

Earlier this month, West Indies had pulled out of their tour of India after the fourth ODI in Dharamsala following a protracted payment structure dispute between the players, the board and the West Indies Players' Association.