Two members of the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB)
Sponsorship Negotiations Review Committee on Thursday distanced
themselves from from a
published declaration by committee chairman Justice Anthony
Lucky that the Digicel contract should be renegotiated and could be
declared null and void.
The two -- Gregory Georges and Avondale Thomas -- decried the
publication of "bits of the report" in the Caribbean media that
suggest former sponsor Cable & Wireless was
not treated fairly in the negotiations with the WICB.
Cable and Wireless was treated unfairly by the West Indies
Cricket Board with respect to negotiations for a new sponsorship
contract. This is the view expressed by the Lucky Committee which
examined the entire process by which the WICB replaced C&W as
sponsors of West Indies cricket.
In its report, the committee headed by Justice Anthony Lucky,
and including Gregory Georges and Avondale Thomas, noted that the
WICB was "not proactive" in discussing the new terms offered by
C&W which had "capitulated" on all the areas of contention in
interviews with WICB chief executive Roger Braithwaite.
West Indies batting maestro Brian Lara has been appointed to an
ad-hoc committee of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and tasked
with helping the regional team win the 2007 World Cup.
The West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) Win World Cup Committee
will be chaired by team coach Bennett King and includes
participation from several former cricketers, including legends Sir
Garfield Sobers and Courtney Walsh.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following declaration from Trinidad &
Tobago judge Anthony Lucky formed part of the Sponsorship Review
Committee's report submitted to the West Indies Cricket Board
(WICB).
I agree with all the points mentioned in the operative parts of
the report. Nevertheless, I wish to make some observations on
certain aspects that I consider important.
I refer specifically to the reasoning under the WICB/Digicel
Sponsorship Agreement that, in my opinion, requires further
development. For the purposes of completeness, I need to reiterate
what has been set out in the report.
International players' union boss Tim May says the existing
terms and conditions being offering to West Indies cricketers are
"simply unacceptable."
According to the former CEO of the Australian Cricketers'
Association, the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) position was
one "no player association could accept."
