A ceasefire or an armistice?

On Wednesday it appeared as if the dispute between the Kenya Cricket Association and the striking players had been resolved. But following talks yesterday, it looks as if it is more of a ceasefire than an armistice.

The two stumbling blocks remain salaries and contracts. "We want all our oustanding allowances and the salaries from last month to be paid in full before we start everything on a clean sheet," Steve Tikolo said. "We don't want the same scenario to repeat itself in the future."

Tikolo estimated that each player is owed around $4000, and this includes bonus money still owed from the World Cup. Kenya were not expected to progress very far and so the board offered to let the players keep any prize money. As it was, they reached the semi-final. Almost all that money remains outstanding, even though it was paid to the KCA shortly after the event. The board maintains that there are tax issues which need resolving before it can pay out.

This raises questions as to whether the KCA, which is known to be financially strained, can afford to meet this demand.

Tikolo also said that the players wanted one-year extensions to their contacts which expired on September 30 - the board offered two-month extensions, explaining that it did not have sufficient funds to make any longer commitment.