WIPA and players' association reach agreement

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Player Association (WIPA) have agreed to a proposal brokered by the ICC and Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) which could signal the end of the ongoing dispute between the two parties.

A joint statement from the WICB and the WIPA said that they "welcomed the agreement reached by the ICC and the FICA on resolving the dispute between the WICB and the WIPA."

The dispute, which saw players such as Brian Lara and Chris Gayle pull out of a tour to Sri Lanka, has hampered the national team for more than a year. While this latest agreement appears to show that progress is being made, it is uncertain exactly what the nature of the agreement is.

The statement continued: "The agreement has brought to an end the long-running contractual dispute and paves the way for the resumption of negotiations between both parties.

"The negotiations will now centre on concluding the memorandum of understanding, contracts for retained players including player remuneration and match and tour contracts for players contracted outside of the retained players and the signing of the collective labour agreement.

"The progress that has been made has seen compromises from both sides and this agreement now provides an excellent foundation on which to build strong relations between WICB and WIPA as we head towards the cricket World Cup in the Caribbean [in 2007]."