Bhalla - Strikers all 'over the hill anyway'

An official of the Kenyan board has dismissed a majority of Kenya's striking players as being "over the hill" and claimed that regardless of the dispute, hardly any of them would have made it into the current side.

The comments come after Wisden Cricinfo reported that promises relating to outstanding payments made by board officials to the Kenya National Sports Council at the time of the stand-off had not been honoured, and that the players remained deeply unhappy with the way the KCA was dealing with their grievances.

One of the long-standing bones of contention is prize-money owed from the 2003 World Cup. The cash was paid by tournament organisers more than a year ago, but the KCA insists that it is unable to pass this on until tax issues have been resolved.

Ramesh Bhalla, Kenya's team manager, repeated that explanation to Reuters. "We're holding just $40,000 simply because we want the players to pay their taxes to the government first before they demand the remaining money," he said. "If the players don't pay their taxes the government will hold us responsible and under the circumstances we have no option but to withhold their money, which anyway is pretty small."

And then Bhalla concluded with an astonishing broadside. ""All [of them] are over the hill," he added, "and most of them anyway wouldn't have made it to the team. Most of the former players have become a spent force."

Investigations by Wisden Cricinfo have revealed that while the World Cup money is a major stumbling block, a number of players still haven't been paid money owed to them under their normal contracts.

Furthermore, some backroom staff, including Andy Moles, the coach, are owed several months' money. Although a few senior players have remained loyal to the KCA, it is thought that they too are owed funds.

Bhalla also had a swipe at the ICC, laying much of the blame on its shoulders. "We never get our money on time," he lamented. That is unlikely to go down well with the ICC who recently stepped in when it was revealed that money it was providing for development of the game inside Kenya was being used by the board to pay salaries. It called a halt to funds being used in such a way, triggering the current cash crisis.

The ICC also gave the KCA US$165,000 for participating in the Champions Trophy, on top of paying for flights and accommodation. It is not clear how that money has been used.