Bravo reiterates commitment to West Indies

Allrounder Dwayne Bravo, who turned down a one-year central contract offered by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) last month, has reiterated his commitment to West Indies cricket. Bravo was one of the three players - allrounder Kieron Pollard and captain Chris Gayle were the others - to reject the offer of a contract for the 2010-11 season.

"I know my recent decision to not sign the retainer contract has caused discomfort to many in our cricketing fraternity," Bravo said in a press release. "I have communicated to the WICB my absolute commitment to West Indies cricket. However, I needed some clarity on some items within the contract and unfortunately we could not make that happen in the time frame for signing, even with the extension provided by the WICB."

The contracts require the players to make themselves available for the West Indies team at all times, something the three players - all of whom have forged prominent careers in domestic Twenty20 competitions including the IPL - were reluctant to do.

Besides West Indies, Bravo also played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL (for an undisclosed amount), and he was signed by English county Essex just to play on finals day of the Friends Provident t20 this season. He has also turned out for Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean T20, where he made 116 runs in three innings and took six wickets with an economy rate under six.

Bravo hoped he could resolve the issues surrounding the contract with the West Indies board. "I hope when we (the WICB and Bravo) get the opportunity to discuss my concerns that my small input adds value to the progress of future arrangements. I am pleased by the WICB communication on this matter and the willingness to discuss the same."

The WICB had offered contracts to 25 players on August 31 - ten of them were development contracts worth $25,000 - and gave the players until September 10 to accept them. According to the Trinidad Express, 22 players finally accepted and three Jamaicans -- Carlton Baugh, Dave Bernard Jr and Andre Russell -- replaced Bravo, Pollard and Gayle.