Windies manager plays down division among players

Tony Howard, the West Indies manager, does not expect the recent contracts dispute to have any divisive effect on the team as it prepares for the upcoming tour of Australia. Howard said that despite the history of the differences between the West Indies Players' Association and the West Indies Cricket Board, he anticipated a professional approach from the players in the current training camp.

"Generally speaking [there has been] camaraderie, and I expected nothing less. These are players who have been playing on the circuit for several years and any minor things that come up among the organisations that represents them should not really affect them when it comes to playing cricket," Howard told CMC Sports during the West Indies training camp at the Three Ws Oval. "So I didn't expect anything different and they are demonstrating that they are all still friends."

When negotiations between WIPA, the players' union, and the WICB broke down prior to the Sri Lanka tour, it resulted in a second-string team being selected to represent West Indies. Key players like Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle all sat out the tour refusing to sign match/tour contracts after WIPA and WICB failed to reach an agreement.

With a month to go before the start of the Australia tour, negotiations are currently going on between the two bodies. With Australia still smarting from their loss to England in the Ashes series, West Indies are expected to face a tough time on that tour, but Howard explained that he was remaining focused on preparing the team.

"I am not particularly interested in England, Australia or anybody else. My job is to get the West Indies team to be the best it can be and I think once we get them to that level, irrespective of who we play, we are going to give a good account of ourselves," Howard said. "Ability is not all, it's application, it's attitude, it's training and practice and these are the invulnerables that we are trying to get into these young men."