Cozier Calls for WIPA-WICB Arbitration

Veteran scribe Tony Cozier believes the latest contract standoff between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the players? union could put the one-day tour of Australia in jeopardy.

In a Barbados Nation column Thursday, Cozier said the divide between the two sites are ?so wide and acrimonious? than a mutually accepted, independent arbitrator might be needed to sort out the mess.

Cozier warned that if neither side backs down from its stance on the current issue, the tour of Australia for the one-day VB Series could be cancelled and lead to sanctions from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The West Indies Players? Association (WICB) has told the 25-players selected for the pre-tour camp not to sign the invitation contracts on grounds that it constitutes "an attempt to exploit the players for commercial purposes".

But, the WICB is standing firm on the requirement that players must sign to be eligible for selection.

?West Indies cricket is in a delicate state as it is. If it continues to be so divided against itself, it will not stand,? Cozier warned.

?Calm and rational heads are required to save it from itself. If, because of the distrust that has developed between them, they no longer exist in those bodies established specifically to nurture it, they need to be found outside ? and quick,? he added.

According to Cozier, the latest brouhaha highlights the deep level of distrust that still exists between the WICB and WIPA. He pointed to language used by WIPA CEO Dinanath Ramnarine that spoke of ?ineptness? in the WICB.

?It is the fourth time in the two years since the WIPA was reconstituted and revitalised under the leadership of Ramnarine, the retired Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies leg-spinner, that the two have been openly at loggerheads,? Cozier wrote, detailing altercations prior to the 2002 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, triggered by Indian players? concerns over their individual commercial rights and a division of sponsors? money just before the last World Cup.

The battles also include a one-day strike by players that delayed the 2003 Carib Beer Series semifinals.

?What now seems to be brewing is another prolonged standoff, such as the most infamous at Heathrow Airport in 1998 that delayed the historic tour of South Africa and so harmed the West Indies? considerable reputation in that country,? Cozier wrote.