Growing tour backlash (10 November 1998)

10 November 1998

Growing tour backlash

Trevor Chesterfield

In Centurion

With one tour match abandoned and the second, scheduled for Soweto tomorrow, still in jeopardy, Brian Lara and his West Indies players now face a growing anti-tour backlash from disenchanted fans. Although the tourists (are expected) arrive in South Africa today after protracted negotiations between West Indies Cricket Board officials and the players, there are reports that the first test at the Wanderers and now only three weeks away, will not receive general public support.

As it is Lara and the rest of his troupe failed to turn up to yesterday's first meeting with the WICB president Pat Rousseau and other board officials which added to further delays in negotiations. An ICC source monitoring the meeting said an argument, which also involves Lara's former agent, Jonathan Barnnett, had held up the discussions for almost three hours.

"There is a lot of disagreement and argument over two key issues," said the informant. "The one is about the tour pay packages and the second is Lara's position in the side."

Reports from London also suggest that agents who had signed contracts with players were holding out for "bigger slice than they have at this stage of the negotiations".

While a Johannesburg travel agent was last night trying to sort out flight plans and other arrangements, there is a view that the UCB's development programme has also been dealt a backhanded with the forced abandonment of the game involving Lara's renegade side and the Nicky Oppenheimer XI.

Revenue from the gate as well as the corporate entertainment areas at Randjiesfontein in Midrand where tour opening matches have been played since 1993, usually brings in R100,000 for the UCB development programme.

Mining mogul Openheimer issued a terse reply to the UCB decision to call off the annual opening bash with the comment that "Dr (Ali) Bacher's development initiative would be affected" by the cancellation of the game. There is now little likelihood that the match can be rescheduled as the tourists is the beneficiary of the match.

There is also the possibility the match in Soweto, against the Gauteng XI and at which the State President, Nelson Mandela, was to have been introduced to the side, may be rescheduled, although Gauteng Cricket Board officials were last night monitoring the West Indies players movements.

In a statement released by his office yesterday, Oppenheimer inferred that a "major loss will be suffered by the UCB development programme" as "it is the beneficiary of the match".

Oppenheimer hoped that the tour would go ahead, but a number of telephone calls along with emails received indicate the impasse created by the West Indies players has left a "decided sour taste" and "they may come but going to see them play is another matter as they only seem to be interested on money".

While part of the problem surrounds the West Indies Cricket Board being without a sponsor since the end of the England tour of the Caribbean in April, the WICB have not been an affluent organisation in terms of cash flow. Kingfisher, a brewery, were their last major sponsors. And with the local domestic four-day competition not being sponsored, funds are in short supply with television rights the only form of funding available.

Another factor which has exacerbated the problem is that unlike the South Africans, those West Indies players contracted by the board do not receive

Local sponsors who have no previous association with the UCB, are said to be waiting for confirmation on the outcome of the talks in London before committing themselves to supporting the sponsorship deal likely to be worked out.

While the cash-strapped WICB had planned a players tour budget of $555,000, with top earnings for the three-month trip of more than $65,000 (more than R100,000 a month at current currency rates) for the senior players, South Africa's contracted players have a sliding scale of monthly pay packages which range from R16 112 for A category players to R12,1000 for those in C category. Added to this is a R5 300 provincial allowance fee for all players.

Test match appearances net R11,925 with a victory bonus while the payout for LOIs is R3,975 with an added R1,325 if the team wins.

Two seasons ago when the West Indies were in Australia players fees ranged from $75,000 for senior players to $50,000 for junior team members. Which means the tourists have already taken a major pay cut.

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News