Another blow for West Indies board

The latest round in the seemingly endless battle between the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has resulted in another defeat for the board.

The WICB had claimed that it had the right to enforce the terms and conditions of contracts awarded to the players for the World Cup. The board wanted to remove clauses relating to payments to the Provident Fund - a welfare system set up to assist former players - as well as insist that all players, regardless of seniority, were paid the same.

WIPA countered, claiming that payments should be within the existing agreement relating to players, which would mean that senior players earned more than novices, on a sliding scale. It also argued that the Provident Fund could not be brushed aside.

A three-man panel, headed by Sir David Simmons, Barbados's chief justice, ruled in favour of WIPA in both instances.

The full text of the ruling can be found at www.caribbeancricket.com