West Indies players paid up

West Indies' players have now been paid all the money owed to them for their appearances this year, according to the WI Cricket Board. It had earlier been claimed that the players were still owed payments for the home-and-away contests against England, and the ICC Champions Trophy, which West Indies eventually won.

According to the Trinidad Express, the payments included match fees for the third and fourth Tests of the home series against England, and all seven NatWest Series one-day internationals. The players were apparently also owed their share of the sponsorship from Sandals Resorts for the Tests and ODIs in England, and also their slice of the sponsorship pie from the Champions Trophy.

A media release last month from the WICB said that the payments would be made over a period of one month, starting on November 17. And according to Leonard Robertson, the corporate communications manager for the WICB, all the payments have now been completed.

Dinanath Ramnarine, president of the West Indies Players Association, declined to comment on the issue, being occupied with attempting to sort out the deadlock over personal endorsements in the contracts for the one-day VB Series in Australia early next year. Both parties in the dispute submitted briefs to an independent adjudicator last week, and that decision will be binding. The ruling is expected by the end of this week.