Mediator to rule in favour of players

A report on the caribbeancricket.com website claims that Judge Adrian Saunders, the mediator in the dispute between the West Indies board (WICB) and several leading players over contracts, will find in favour of the players. It is expected that he will agree that there is a distinction between endorsements they can sign in their private capacity and as a member of the West Indies team.

The decision was conveyed to the board and the West Indies Players Association on Thursday and will be made public in the next day or two. What is means is that the board cannot prevent players taking up private endorsement deals before being selected or after they are dropped. For their part, the players cannot use team logos and similar branding to market themselves privately as a member of the West Indies side.

Some issues remain outstanding, and the judge asked for both sides to show a willingness to sort these out by negotiation. That seemed unlikely as within 48 hours of receiving the decision, both the board and the WICA made thinly-disguised attacks on each other.

On Saturday, the WICB accused the association of attempting to "undermine the mediation process" and of trying to "characterise the judgement of the independent arbiter in a manner favourable to WIPA".

The target of the board's ire was Dinanath Ramnarine, the president and CEO of the WICA, who on Friday had issued a statement in which he had expressed concern that the board had delayed the naming of the side to tour Australia. He said: "We trust that the delay in naming the team does not arise from any attempt by the board to sidestep the appointed adjudicator."

Ramnarine's confrontational style - some would argue he is simply standing up for the rights of his players - resulted in the resignation of Roland Holder as secretary earlier in the week.