Lara says sorry South Africa (13 November 1998)

13 November 1998

Lara says sorry South Africa

Trevor Chesterfield

JOHANNESBURG - Brian Lara dug deep into his kitbag, found the right words to say and apologised to South Africa for delaying the start of the West Indies tour of South Africa for a week.

Although he smartly side-stepped the issue of the financial implications of the abandoned first match of the tour, which was to have been played against the Nikky Openheimer XI at Randjiesfontein yesterday and has cost the development programme R100 000, a relaxed Lara, captain of the first West Indies team to play a test series in this country, was more than happy that the first game would be "symbolically held in Soweto".

The tourists arrived mid-morning yesterday after spending a week in limbo at a hotel near Heathrow airport west of London where their contractual future was signed after four days of heavy negotiation.

Neither Lara, nor Clive Lloyd, the team's manager, were prepared to answer questions on what was contained in the four-page document and signed by the West Indies Cricket Board and the 16 players.

"It is a private document and a matter between us (as players) and the board (as our employers)," he said. The comment was supported by Lloyd.

The view among the players, however, was that there had been a misunderstanding between the touring team and the WICB and this gap had now been close, which was confirmed by Robert Holder, of the WI Players' Association. And as the left-hand opening batsman Clayton Lambert, who once played for Northerns, later confirmed, the team "was fully committed to this tour from the moment we were selected."

It was a matter of sorting out the long-term contractual future of the players and, as Lara contritely put it at the media conference late yesterday, "I wish to apologise to the people of South Africa for the delay in the start of the West Indies tour."

Lara said the 14 members of the touring party who were in South Africa, along with Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, who missed Monday's flight from London to Johannesburg, were keen to play in the match.

"We will have to select the side with care," he said, although Jimmy Adams is to miss the first match after three stitches were put in a cut in a finger of his right hand.

Both Lara and Lloyd did their best to steer clear of the polemic issues which put the full team's arrival back a week. And Dr Ali Bacher, managing director of the United Cricket Board, said the costs of the hotel accommodation in London, along with air flights and other costs would be settled "once the dust has cleared".

He confirmed an early statement that there was no plan for the UCB to get involved in what was a "domestic dispute over tour monies and contracts". He said he gad gone to England to help broker an accommodation between the players and the WICB.

"There was a lot of hard bargaining, but I was only involved when it was necessary and asked to join the discussions," he said.

Dr Bacher admitted there was a time on Monday, when negotiations seemed to have stalled, that he was he worried about the tour starting today. Had it been a tour of Australia, England or another country he doubted whether the outcome would have been as easy as it turned out.

The final document was signed shortly before 8pm Monday night after which there was a madcap dash by negotiating team and the players for the aircraft. And example of their commitment to fly to South Africa was that the players had their kit and bags packed and waiting to be put aboard the aircraft.

Source :: Trevor Chesterfield, Pretoria News