West Indies: TTCB talking to lawyers (22 October 1998)

22 October 1998

West Indies: TTCB talking to lawyers

By Garth Wattley

Well over 48 hours have passed since Guyana claimed their first lien on the Red Stripe Bowl. But the controversial tournament is still on the minds of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board and the T&T players.

Yesterday, board president Alloy Lequay mandated the TTCB attorney Ram Chan Chadeesingh to draft a letter to the West Indies Cricket Board. According to Lequay, Chadeesingh was given a copy of the original letter of protest drafted by Jamaican QC, Howard Hamilton, which the T&T team lodged with the Jamaica Cricket Association after the result of their semifinal encounter with the Leeward Islands was reversed.

Explaining the purpose of the letter, Lequay told the Express, "the ultimate aim is to sensitise the West Indies Board to the fact that there has been too much confusion over the interpretation of One-day regulations and they need to ensure that what has happened in the past does not happen in the future by reviewing all of the regulations." The TTCB are also making specific enquiries.

The primary one concerns the power of the match referee.

"The ICC code of conduct, used by the WICB," said Lequay, "states very clearly, the match referee's decision is final. We wanted to know if they have not adopted that part of the code. They overruled (umpire Ralph) Gosine in 1995 and now they have overruled Perry in 1998." Lequay said the letter also addressed "who appointed the Jackie Hendriks committee, what was their status and authority. We also want to know if they are satisfied with the results of the preliminary round in Guyana, since it has been stated in the Barbados Advocate that the wrong formula was used and Trinidad won that preliminary round."

The TTCB president is also concerned about the apparent disregard of their protest by the WICB.

"When Leewards protested, a comittee dealt with it," Lequay said.

"When we protested, it was not dealt with. That does not seem to me to be proper."

While it decided to forgo filing an injunction to stop last Monday's Red Stripe final, the TTCB is under pressure from their players not to drop the matter.

"Our players are very distressed," Lequay said.

"They felt they have been denied the opportunity of earning in excess of TT$84,000 (for winning the semifinals and final). They are very distressed and they want to know what sort of action can be taken on their behalf."

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