Windies players go on strike, protest

According to Cricinfo, players involved in games in Barbados, St Vincent and Jamaica failed to turn up at the grounds for the scheduled start. The report says the matches will start tomorrow and will be played over three rather than four days.

The exact nature of yet another stand-off between the WICB and the region's cricketers is unclear, but the boycott follows the news that last night Dinanath Ramnarine, who heads the players' association, resigned as a director of the board.

In the one-day international against England, the West Indies players took to the field with masking tape over the Digicel logos on their left arms, while Chris Gayle, the captain, also blanked out the shirt manufacturer's logo. They removed these at the drinks interval.

Julian Hunte, the embattled WICB president, told the CMC agency: "You are well aware that players have not attended the regional matches and the players in the one-day International were wearing duct tape over ... their sleeves in protest. We understand that WIPA has identified a number of areas that we feel about which they feel aggrieved, and have arranged a meeting for Barbados on Tuesday to resolve all outstanding issues.

"It will be premature for us to speak about the issues that have been submitted for our consideration, but I believe we will also want the players to be in attendance at the meeting on Tuesday because things have reached the stage where we need to involve them so that they can hear both sides."