Vincentian Judge is Arbitrator

Vincentian Judge Adrian Saunders has been named adjudicator of the contract dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the players' association.

Saunders, who is acting Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), will issue a binding ruling on the disputed Clause 1-K of a previous match/tour contract that has a direct bearing on the current controversy.

Clause 1-K reads:

* Not at any time after his selection and during the Tour undertake, participate or in endorse any advertising as a member of the Team without permission of the Board, such permission not be unreasonable withheld;

The WICB is contending that three players -- Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo -- were in breach of Clause 1-K of their contracts with the WICB when they opted to sign individual endorsement deals with Cable & Wireless.

However, WIPA counters by saying that the players never signed a C&W deal "as a member of the Team" since those contracts were private endorsements and had nothing to do with the WICB or the West Indies team.

It goes to Justice Saunders to determine whether the players' individual deals with C&W were in breach of 1-K.

Justice Saunders, who spent two decades in private practice as an attorney, was appointed a judge of the High Court of the Eastern Caribbean states in 1996. He was appointed to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Count in May 2003 and has been acting Chief Justice since July 1, this year.

He is also chairman of the Judicial Education Institute of the ECSC and a faculty member of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute.