Pay-as-you-play for Windies (7 February 1999)

7 February 1999

Pay-as-you-play for Windies

Tony Cozier in Johannesburg

West Indies cricketers could find themselves on performance-related contracts in future.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) put forward the proposal in preliminary negotiations with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) recently. If it is finally mutually agreed to, it would not come into effect until the scheduled tour of Pakistan later this year since financial arrangements for the forthcoming home series against Australia have already been settled.

Chief executive officers Stephen Camacho of the WICB and David Holford of the WIPA confirmed yesterday that the scheme was on the table for discussion.

"This is what Richard Jodhan (the WICB financial comptroller) has come up with but it's simply an initial draft for consideration," Camacho said. "No doubt there will be modifications if it is accepted".

According to Holford, the WICB had put the WIPA "on notice" that this was its thinking.

"It would really provide bonuses for winning," he said. "There would be so much for winning, so much for drawing. But nothing has yet been implemented".

Neither Camacho not Holford would give any details but players who have received faxed communication on the subject from the WIPA said the idea was that 50 per cent of the agreed salary would be paid on selection with another 60 per cent for a victory, 50 per cent for a draw and 40 per cent for a loss.

Following the heavy defeats the West Indies have endured on their current tour of South Africa, there have been several calls for such a scheme, even extending to the performances of individual players.

At present, the individual fees are paid-win, lose or draw. Players are paid on a graded scale according to the number of Tests and One-day Internationals on their records.

For the Test section of the South African tour, salaries ranged from US$12,000 for those with no previous Tests (Daren Ganga and the West Indies Man of the Series Ridley Jacobs) to US$29,550 for those with more than 61 Tests (Curtly Ambrose, Carl Hooper and Courtney Walsh). Captain Brian Lara earned US$35,475.

For the ODIs, which were separate for the first time on an overseas tour, the range was between US$7,000 for those who had played fewer than 40 such matches (Ganga, Jacobs, Rawl Lewis, Neil McGarrell, Nixon McLean, Keith Semple and Rawl Lewis) to US$12,880 for those with between 141 and 190 (Ambrose and Carl Hooper). As captain, Lara received an additional US$16,555.

These arrangements did not include any prize money, of which there has been precious little to show for a team beaten in all five Tests and five of six ODIs so far played. The last ODI is at Centurion today.

One of the arguments advanced by the players-and rejected by the WICB-during their stand-off in London last November prior to the South African tour related to the disparity in pay between those chosen only for the Tests and those picked for both Tests and ODIs.

It was pointed out that the long-serving Walsh, dropped for the ODIs, would have earned a basic US$29,550 for his part of the tour while a player of lesser experience and less value to the team effort could earn as much as US$10,000 more from inclusion in the ODI squad.

It was a claim that reportedly caused divisions within the team as the junior players felt they were let down by their senior colleagues engaged in the negotiations. Events in South Africa where the lowest paid member, Jacobs, outshone some of those who received as much as double his earnings, strengthened their case.

The players are continuing to press for the reintroduction of the promised year-long contracts under which 22 players were employed in 1997. The WIBC abandoned the scheme for lack of money after all but four of the relevant governments reneged on commitments to contribute financially.

South Africa has 22 players on contract, in four categories, between May, 1998, and April, 1999, the lowest paid of whom earns 16,112rand (US$2,685).

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)