Lamb attacks West Indies' ticket tax

The row over ticket prices for next year's West Indies-England series continued to rumble on, with Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), attacking the decision of the West Indian board (WICB) to impose hefty levies on sales to England supporters.

The WICB has been roundly condemned by supporters' groups after it was revealed that it was imposing a $260 (£160) levy on ticket sales to tourists, on top of substantial increases in the prices of tickets themselves. Seats for the most popular matches in Antigua and Barbados, which will cost around $560 (£350), will only be available if they are bought for all five days - and if the games finish early or are affected by the weather, the refunds will be minimal.

Lamb explained that the ECB had no prior warning of the move, and that it had already expressed its displeasure. "The ECB has made strenuous efforts to try and convince the WICB that this cricket levy is an inequitable, disproportionate and unjustifiable way of treating England supporters," Lamb said. "We are extremely unhappy about the situation, about which there was no prior consultation, and have made our views known - very clearly - to the WICB. However, they have refused to reconsider the imposition of this tax and, as our hosts, that is their prerogative."

The WICB has justified the move by claiming that the extra revenue will be used to improve the Caribbean's poor facilities ahead of the 2007 World Cup.

"The WICB have been accused of gratuitous and flagrant profiteering and we fully understand why so many of our supporters are so incensed about this issue," Lamb continued. "We have taken the matter up at the highest level with the International Cricket Council, who, while being sympathetic, has no power to intervene in this dispute."

Lamb added that the ICC had agreed to review the situation at its next meeting to try to "avoid any repetition of this unfortunate practice happening again in the future".