West Indies cricket has been thrown into further disarray by the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) to stay away from the annual general meeting of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in Antigua today and tomorrow.

The Trinidad Express reported that a WICB director confirmed that the TTCB had written to the WICB notifying them of their decision and giving reasons for it. And last evening at the TTCB's awards dinner at President's House, Board president Deryck Murray spoke publicly about the move.

From the article:

"It is a difficult decision that we made but we want to send a signal to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that this is not a time for business as usual.

"I want to be clear. This is not a threat to the unity of West Indies cricket...In this time of crisis, we cannot afford to sit back and keep doing the same things over and over again. That is not doing anything for our cricket.

Our hope is that this move could be the catalyst for the change of West Indies cricket at the top.

They must understand that we the Board and the people of Trinidad and Tobago expect and demand that things be done differently from here on in."

This coincides with the latest in the long-running dispute over contracts between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) that led to the withdrawal of the leading players from the recent series against Bangladesh and that is now before former Commonwealth secretary-general Sir Shridath Ramphal for mediation.

As one of the six constituent members of the WICB - along with Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands - the TTCB have two directors on the executive and two representatives on the board.

It is understood that among their grievances is the WICB's failure to act on the main recommendations of the report into their governance by a committee headed by former Jamaica prime minister P.J.Patterson.