Gayle and Sarwan dismiss attorney

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle have parted company with their attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, after he released a statement on their behalf expressing their disappointment with the manner in which the ongoing contracts dispute had been handled.

In a press release dated July 27, 2005, Sarwan and Gayle hit out at the "painful and difficult situation" in which they had been placed regarding the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka, adding that they had been presented with two equally unpalatable options:

"Firstly, to refuse to play ... and appear to be selfishly abandoning West Indies Cricket and the many loyal fans who have supported them faithfully over the years ... and secondly, to choose to participate [and] appear to be abandoning their team-mates and colleagues who have sought their support."

The July 27 release also criticised "the unrelenting and unnecessary dispute" between the West Indies Cricket Board and West Indies Players Association. "Both players wish to express their disappointment with the handling of the entire matter. They fear that the current approach to the resolution of the dispute is only likely to deepen the divide between the stakeholders."

However, the pair have since gone on record to distance themselves from those remarks, and have released an independent follow-up to Mr Datadin's remarks:

"In order to provide clarity and remove the speculation that has been rife as a result of a press release issued by Mr Sanjeev Datadin on the 27th day of July 2005, we wish to state the following:

We have never given any instructions to say or suggest that we will break or have broken away from, disapproved of or had any complaint about WIPA or its handling of any matter.

We have been made aware and have been involved in the decision-making by WIPA on our behalf and other players throughout.

We deny categorically that pressure was placed on us by WIPA to make any decisions at any time.

We have informed Mr. Sanjeev Datadin that his services will no longer be required with immediate effect.

We are totally committed to West Indies Cricket.