West Indies turmoil - Lara, Hooper out of SA tour (4 November 1998)

4 November 1998

West Indies turmoil - Lara, Hooper out of SA tour

Rick Eyre in CricInfo365

West Indian cricket was thrown into confusion yesterday as captain Brian Lara and vice-captain Carl Hooper flew to London this week instead of accompanying the West Indian touring team en route from Bangladesh to South Africa. Following earlier reports on Monday night that they had withdrawn from the tour, an announcment was made by the players union that they were attending a meeting in London to discuss player fees for the South African contest.

The first that the cricket world knew that something was amiss was when the West Indies Cricket Board issued a statement on Monday night which read in part: "Captain of the West Indies Cricket team, Brian Lara and vice captain Carl Hooper have not gone on to South Africa from Bangladesh as planned. They have voiced concern over the fees for the tour of South Africa and have instead gone to England."

The WICB statement went on to say that the WICB were planning to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday, and that Lara and Hooper were invited to attend. "[WICB president] Rousseau said that the WICB had reached agreement with the players' representative body, the West Indies Players' Association WIPA, on fees for the South African tour," the statement went on to say.

The West Indian Players Association responded with a statement denying that Lara and Hooper were withdrawing from the tour, but were attending a meeting in London to clarify the situation about player payments in South Africa. WIPA secretary Roland Holder disputed the WICB's claim that agreement had been reached on fees, saying that negotiations were continuing. "The monetary offer was subsequently accepted by the WICB but there are issues surrounding the acceptance with which the WIPA is not in agreement," the WIPA release said.

The meeting in London is believed to involve Lara (WIPA vice-president), Hooper (WIPA players representative), together with association president Courtney Walsh and Jimmy Adams and other members of the WI team.

The WIPA statement concluded by saying that it "eagerly looks forward to collaborating with the WICB to resolve this issues. The players wish to reaffirm their total commitment to West Indies cricket and their keenness to take part in the upcoming series."

Seven players along with manager Clive Lloyd and coach Malcolm Marshall were expected to fly into Johannesburg airport today to begin the first officially-sanctioned West Indian cricket tour of South Africa. UCBSA managing director Ali Bacher was confident the tour would go ahead as planned, saying there "was too much at stake for this tour not to come off."

Reon King, Rawl Lewis and Neil McGarrell have stayed on in Bangladesh after the Wills International Cup to join the A team touring party.

Source :: CricInfo365