Ganga: WICB Pressured Players to Sign

West Indies 'A' team captain Daren Ganga on Friday disclosed that the WICB "pressured" players in the squad to go against their word and accept the match/tour contract for the Test tour.

In an interview with Wisden-Cricinfo, Ganga said the eight players who switched sides were individually pressured by team manager Tony Howard. "We held together as a team and all of a sudden some guys were pressured. We had situations where guys were pressured one-on-one as well to sign a contract. It undermined the entire trust of the team," the 'A' team skipper said.

All but two members of the squad had originally signed a letter to the WICB to make it clear they would not break ranks with WIPA in "solidarity" with the seniors.

Ganga said that the "guys took a stance as a team" and explained that a divide-and-conquer approach appeared to have broken that resolve. Xavier Marshall, Ryan Ramdass, Runako Morton,Dwayne Smith, Narsingh Deonarine and Jermaine Lawson subsequently signed contracts and will join the main tour party when they arrive at the weekend.

In the midst of Howard's attempts to secure signatures, the Windies 'A' team was playing an unofficial "Test" against Sri Lanka 'A' and the day after the replacements were announced, the Caribbean side succumbed to an innings and 16 runs loss.

"We are not sort of mentally prepared to play cricket," explained Ganga.

"I am speaking on behalf of the majority of the team. We are just looking forward to see what transpires in a couple of days and see what happens and take it from there. I just hope the people and our supporters back home understand what is happening to our cricket and our players in terms of the stress that we are undergoing when these sort of situations arise."