WICB explains team return delay
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has countered reports of the senior team being stuck in London with a statement claiming that the travel arrangements were made in advance "in order to secure business class seats on the flights."Full text of the WICB statement:
Contrary to reports carried on caribbeancricket.com, the West Indies team was not stranded in a hotel in London awaiting flights back to the Caribbean.
The travel arrangements for the team were made a long time ago in order to secure business class seats on the flights. It is a stipulation of the industrial agreement that the team travels business class. The original schedule for the Ireland leg of the British Isles tour was scheduled for Belfast with a completion date of July 16, 2007.
The organizers shifted the tournament to Dublin with a completion date of 14th July 2007. Every effort was made by the WICB to have the players fly home on July 16 or July 17. However, British Airways (BA) were unable to accommodate the WICB’s request as business class seats were not available. BA advised the WICB to keep the original bookings.
The full team minus those who stayed on to fulfill County contracts flew out of Gatwick airport as scheduled this morning, along with all luggage including (47) forty seven extra pieces at no additional cost to the Board.
The WICB remains concerned with the deliberate distortion and misinformation, as well as the motives of those involved. We anticipate the safe return home of our players and officials.