'Players Killing the Golden Goose'

Veteran Jamaican cricket commentator Tony Becca has a firm warning for West Indies cricketers threatening to strike and disrupt the Carib Beer playoffs: You're killing the golden goose!

With news emerging that the players have refused to play in Friday's semi finals in Barbados and Guyana, Becca warned that the hard-and-fast stance by the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) would scare away sponsors from supporting regional cricket.

"The latest talk is that the players will not wear the sponsors shirt in the semi-finals, and if that happens, God help West Indies cricket. Hopefully, commonsense will prevail and it will not happen," Becca wrote in Friday's Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.

"Whatever the problems, regardless of who are right and who are wrong, and remembering the embarrassment in Antigua recently when the sponsors of the team to the World Cup were snubbed by the players, West Indies cricket cannot afford another confrontation between the Board and the players, and in the interest of West Indies cricket, the players, through WIPA, should understand that," he added.

"There is nothing wrong with wanting more money, and although, based on the attendance at matches, hardly anyone goes to watch them play, the players who do not represent the West Indies do deserve more...In demanding more money, however, the players should remember that the Board, which has offered an increase totalling US$250,000 a season, can only give from what it has and that it has other obligations - including the development of young players," he argued.

In the context of the society in which they live they, Becca insisted the West Indies players are well paid. "If they were paid according to performance they would not be so well paid, and that if it was left to their performance, the Board would now be bankrupt," he argued.

"The players should also remember that West Indies cricket cannot do without sponsors, and as good as they may be or believe they are, neither can they," Becca added.