No deadline to sign contracts for Australia tour

There is no deadline for West Indian players to sign the match and tour contracts for the upcoming tour of Australia, scheduled for November 2005, according to a source close to the negotiations between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

The WICB, in its September 13 invitation to 30 players for the tour of Australia, had stated that "the players accepting the invitation are required to sign the letter and return it to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) by 5 pm on September 19".

On September 16, Dinanath Ramnarine, the WIPA president and CEO, said in a press release that according to an agreement between himself and Ken Gordon, the new WICB president, all players "may accept the invitation to participate in the camp in preparation for the tour of Australia with the clear understanding that there has been no agreement with regards to the match/tour contract and that the players would not be bound by the draft match/tour contracts which accompanied the invitations sent by the WICB for the Australian tour later this year as discussions are ongoing".

Ramnarine stated that the counsel for the West Indies Cricket Board, represented by senior counsel Charles Wilkin, and the West Indies Players Association, being advised by Dr Kusha Haraksingh, CARIFORUM Lead Negotiator on Dispute Resolution, were to meet over the weekend to "settle all outstanding issues" on match/tour contracts for senior West Indies cricketers.

The source said that players were advised by WIPA not to sign any match/tour contracts because negotiations "are still in progress". The source also said, contrary to a Barbados Nation report, fast bowlers Pedro Collins and Fidel Edwards only indicated that "they accepted the invitation and never indicated they would sign the match/tour contracts". "They were misquoted," the source said. "They will not sign now because the contracts are still being negotiated."

WIPA had pointed out Friday that they only received a copy of the match/tour contract on September 13, "the same day it was sent to the players", and reiterated that they want to reassure the public and all stakeholders that "we are committed to finding a resolution and for the best team to tour Australia..."

Despite the lack of a settlement to date, players are still expected to turn up for a preparatory one-week camp from September 24-30 at the Three Ws Oval at the Cave Hill campus of the University of West Indies.

Invited players:

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Denesh Ramdin, Daren Ganga, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Dave Mohammed, Sylvester Joseph, Ryan Hinds, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Devon Smith, Narsingh Deonarine, Carlton Baugh Jr, Omari Banks, Xavier Marshall, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Jermaine Lawson, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ian Bradshaw, Deighton Butler, Daren Powell, Dwight Washington, Jerome Taylor.