'WICB Walked Away From Deal'

I am involved as the Industrial Relations advisor to West Indies Players? Association (WIPA) and what I can say is that the West Indies Cricket Board did not have to send a second eleven to Sri Lanka.

As Dinanath Ramnarine?s letter to Roger Brathwaite spelt out in detail WIPA and the WICB were still negotiating when the Board advised that it had just selected ?another group of players? and that therefore negotiations were over. They had been planning for such an eventuality since the manager of the senior Team was in Sri Lanka speaking with the 'A' Team players in an effort to get these players to sign up for the senior team tour.

I am firmly of the view that even at the eleventh hour we could have arrived at a settlement. This was not the first time that agreement on a Match/Tour Contract had gone down ?to the wire?. In fact the norm is for the Board to send WIPA their proposals a mere days before a Tour and then seek to get agreement at the very last moment. There have been instances where, due primarily to the Board?s tardiness, players have actually received their contracts to sign at the airport just before departure on Tour. And as the more the norm than the exception the WICB has been paying players? long after the Tour has been completed. So for them time has also been a convenient factor.

This time, however, they wish to blame WIPA for ?tardiness?. I think it was really an attempt to try to teach WIPA a lesson, to divide the Association and to break up player solidarity. It was a foolish move. The result has in fact been to break up an ?A? Team that had just won one ?test? match and, as the Manager has stated to weaken morale and everything else that is so necessary for a successful team in competitive sport.

In addition, we have now sent a team that is clearly not our best team. The Sri Lankan Board and fans are upset, their players must also be disappointed and ten of our own best players ? Brian Lara included ? have been sidelined for standing on principle. It is a helluva lesson indeed, and one that has already blown up in the Board?s face.

It is indeed ironic that we read of Digicel?s position of concern about the entire situation and that they too want the ?best team? One can only wonder what is taking place behind the scenes between the WICB and Digicel. For one thing the lack of transparency in the Board?s dealings has been of concern to many in the region. WIPA, like so many others, has been calling for an inquiry into the general functioning of the WICB with the objective of putting in place new, transparent and more democratic governance arrangements. This is one item that will probably be at the top of Ken Gordon?s agenda as, based on press reports, he now seems certain of becoming the next WICB President. The Caricom Prime Ministers have also signaled their intention to do something about the governance of West Indies cricket.

I believe that Prime Minister Mitchell?s statement two Friday?s ago says a lot. He is not a players? adviser but, being the Chair of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on cricket, has been kept abreast of all developments by all sides. Some may be of the view that he was too strong in its criticism of the Board. I have no doubt, however, that his frustration with the Board is due to his first hand knowledge of how the WICB has operated over the last eight months. Indeed all those who have become involved have seen through the Board?s insistence to protect Digicel. When the Digicel agreement was first announced to the public we were being told of sponsorship at an unprecedented level and all kinds of figures were being given - US$23 million, $20 million, $18.75 Million and now we are told that it is really US$16.875 million.

One of the things that has only now come to light is that the real contract amount over five years is $18.75 million US of which 10% or $1.875 million was a ?broker?s fee?, which is a nice way of saying that somebody or bodies received a commission of almost US$2 million. This was money that Digicel put up but none of this will go to cricket. We have not been told by the WICB who received this significant sum and whether or not there was any conflict of interest involved, but we expect that the Justice Lucky sponsorship review commission will lay out all the facts.

Indeed, when you look at the actual guaranteed amount of US$16.875 million over five years this works out to be just over US$3 million per year, for both overseas and home series. This is chicken feed money for some companies that operate in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, yet the WICB sold their shirts for this amount.

Many questions need to be asked. For example, was this actual amount being received by the WICB from Digicel more than that offered by Cable and Wireless and if so by how much? What is the structure of income and expenditure of the Board and why is it in so large a deficit? Why hasn?t the Board enlisted the support of WIPA and Caricom to seek funding from a diversified list of companies that operate in the region? Why have we not fought more openly against the other ICC members who changed the system of home and away series so that they profit financially while we lose?

These and other questions we hope will be answered either by the Justice Lucky?s review or the Caricom Prime Ministers? intervention. Suffice it to say that the struggle by WIPA to defend the rights of its members has in fact forced out into the open much more than the relationship between players and Board. On the table in a manner that cannot escape public attention are the fundamental issues of governance arrangements, sponsorship in the modern era of the commoditisation of sport, the WICB?s financial status, and the leadership, management and entire organization and planning of West Indies Cricket, including that of the Territories.

The region should therefore embrace the moment and seek to make use of it to transform how we organise our cricket so that we can once again become world-beaters. Whether we seize the opportunity or merely manoeuvre ourselves into positions of comfort will be left to be seen, but the decisions taken will define the future of the region.

* David Abdulah is an industrial relations consultant to the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA). He also serves as president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Non Governmental Organisations (FITUN) in Trinidad & Tobago.