Strike slammed as 'amateurish and childish'

Outspoken Barbados Cricket Association president and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director Joel Garner has branded the strike by the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) as "amateurish and childish".

In condemning the boycott of the three matches by 78 regional cricketers on Friday, Garner also chided the leadership of WIPA, which responded to long-standing issues with the WICB, by instructing its players to take industrial action.

"I was disappointed. I think it was a bit amateurish, childish, call it whatever you like. There are mechanisms in place for what is happening," Garner said. "The whole thing was ill-advised. If you have meetings pending and you have issues to deal with, the meeting is the best place to deal with the issues.

"All of the players who currently play for West Indies … I have managed at some point or the other. You can call them and ask them a question. You ask them, 'What are you trying to achieve'. They can't tell you what they are trying to achieve, or what they are fighting for. They are being led blindly without understanding the real ramifications of what is happening."

Garner also accused WIPA of not doing enough for non-West Indies players. He said there was an agreement in which top Caribbean cricketers benefit by sharing 25% of WICB's earnings.

"We are fighting so that the six territorial teams, besides the top players, will all be in the pool. If we are going to give 25% of everything that the WICB earns, it has to go right across the board and not only to 15 people at the top," Garner said.