The West Indies Cricket Board has defended its decision not to sanction the players who have skipped the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh to play in the Champions League Twenty20 competition in India, but insists there is no wavering on its new West Indies First policy.

Last week, the WICB released the squad for the first Test against the Bangladeshis with the notice that “two players who were considered for selection to the Test squad have opted to play in the Champions League which has an ICC approved window on the international schedule. The players’ decisions will not have any deleterious effect on consideration for future West Indies selection.”

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My wish for today is: that the Softhead has the ability to recognize contradictions.

Nuff said.

In reply to Courtesy
There are no contradictions. This is reality. the WICB is part of a larger body called the ICC which is controlled by the BCCI.
The IPL and the Champions League are both sanctioned by the ICC.
Thus you cannot penalise a player for playing in a tournament sanctioned by you. That is law suit time.
Also remember that the CPL is also sanctioned and a Caribbean franchise, the Tridents, will be going to this tournament. What would have happened if 8 of the Tridents were picked by the West Indies?
The truth is we are a little fish in a big ocean.

In reply to bobby

Look deeper mate...

In reply to Courtesy... they just cannot be selected again until they have fulfilled the requirements for selection.

If there is more ... do explain Mr. Hitlaire.

In reply to Courtesy

Well in Muirhead's defense there are exceptions to every rule/policy. In the case of the WICB, however, the exceptions appear to be well on the way to becoming the policy

In reply to Courtesy

I like the name Softhead.

It's a take!

In reply to Courtesy

No contradiction, there is no vindictiveness and pettiness as existed under the previous regime.

The WICB did not try to ban Narine for life after he chose to play for KKR, he was "penalized" for his choice ( for lack of a better word) then it was business as usual, he was selected as soon as he was available there was an immediately defined finite consequence for his action, no one asked for an apology.


Once again,like Narine did, players (Russel as well this time) have made their choice, and there is a clearly defined finite consequence,(obviously they wont be considered for this series) there will be no vindictiveness or pettiness, its called live and let live, WICB cannot afford the man them services,and dont forget the WICB made it clear that this is happening during an ICC approved window.I don't think its by accident they mentioned that.

Like the WICB finally have some sensible people working there!!! No more losing on arbitration to all and sundry cos they want to win pissing contest rather than have good sense, read, understand and have some decency!!!!!


This is how grown men run ish, the message is clear, I am sure there will be clear requirements for selection in each series, whether its a training regimen that should be adhered to, or turning up for a training camp on time.


GTFOH wid u chupidniss

Club vs "Country"....coming soon to a cricketing team near you.

WAIT!....scratch that.

Already here.


Football solved it. Cricket will eventually do the same...even if it's kicking and screaming in the process.

Excuses, excuses.

The WICB has formed a new and improved department - The Spin Department.

What develops, drifts in the air, then bounces and turns both ways at the same time.

Welcome to the New Revolution.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Hmmmm ... seems like the WICB has shifted from restraining trade through placing conditions in NOCs (or issuing limited NOCs) to restraining trade by "penalizing" players for not placing West Indies first. A distinction without a difference. Aren't these contracted players we're talking about? And if so, why would the WICB need to inquire whether the players will place WI first next year? Didn't the players already commit to put WI first when they signed their WICB retainer contracts?

In reply to Walco

1 - Where's the inquiry in his statement?

2 - Do you know the content of the respective retainer contracts? Is it the same contract for all contracted players?

In reply to Walco

It will be interesting to see what happens with that England tour...I would guess that NONE of the main IPL players will miss IPL for that tour. And who in their right mind can blame them?

In reply to imusic

Regarding question 1, read between the lines nuh man.

The answers to question 2 are no. That's why I asked questions in my post.

In reply to Walco
There's no question IMO

WICBC has made it clear that they have a tour to England during the IPL tournament and players will have to choose.

The STATEMENT from Muirhead was that they were waiting to see what decisions the players made in that regard.

All actions have consequences. Even inactions have consequences.

Both players and board will do what they believe is in each of their best interests. And even then.....circumstances change. The decision at that time may not be the same decision in 2 years.

It's good to have options....no?

In reply to imusic

Who said football solved it ?

In reply to Commie

Examples of the contrary?

In reply to imusic

What is the African Nations Cup ?

Every year CLubs fight sending their players or leave it until last minute because its mid season in Europe and every year country wins because the ANC is played at the only time for climate purposes it can be held.

Cricket is different from football in that the IPL cannot sustain a much longer season and there are only two or three T20 tournies that can create any kind of viable window.

Plus the T20 franchises have little or no brand support outside India. The countries all have strong support cultures.

We are not even sure in 10 years time that the T20 IPL franchises will still be around.

In reply to Commie

HERE'S YOUR LIST OF THE FIFA CALENDAR FOR THIS FOOTBALL YEAR

Clubs can fight all they want. African Cup of Nations falls within that window and clubs are mandated to release players to their respective national teams for any matches that are listed in window above.

Some players retire from International football to concentrate on playing for their clubs. Mostly, they're players past their prime.

In reply to Commie
Keep focusing on IPL.

The format of the NOW AND FUTURE in cricket is T20...whether you like it or not. Without it, the game will DIE.

LO cricket props up Test cricket.....NOT the other way around.

If IPL dissolves, some other T20 league(s) will take it's place.

In reply to imusic

Remember, Cricket created T20...not the other way round. When your child supports you as you grow older it is a natural synergy of the investment you put into that child turning itself into a responsibility.

The reality is that there is little brand support for T20 outside of India and at present it CANNOT field the majority of the cricket calendar. NO T20 league as yet can.

It also has to be maintained in the relationship as you can see by most International teams playing little or no T20 internationals outside of T20 leagues, and the BCCI / ICC turning down any attempt to sacrifice revenues by globalising the game through the Olympics, something which im sure you would love to unfurl your flag for (though you can in 2017 for the junior commonwealth games...the ONLY time in the next 15 years).

it is the future of revenue for the sport right now, but noone knows what the future will morph into other than the FTP, which as you know goes into 2022.

THAT is the future.

In reply to DIEHARD

Well said man. Pity too many peeps here don't get it.

In reply to DIEHARD

What's all this garbage about? A contradiction is a contradiction is a contradiction.

Counting a donkey's tail as a leg does not give it five legs.

The next opportunity which presents itself to you for an argument please understand what the proposition is and then present your justification and conclusion to the argument. And don't be such an imbecile in full view of the WWW.

P.S. Next time do not respond to my posts as you do not qualify for a response from me.

In reply to HumbleCalf

Interesting times ahead. Hopefully it will pave the way for Marlon's return to the team.

In reply to imusic

Yeah but not those kind of options where you are penalized either way--heads you win, tails I lose. The problem here is poor scheduling by the WICB. The players should not have to choose if there is an IPL window.

In reply to Walco

If hosting the Bangladesh series is a revenue generator for the WICBC, they shouldn't dismiss that avenue.

Consequences for the WICBC.....you may lose some of your best players to prior commitments

Consequences for the players....you risk losing your spot if the player that replaces you performs.

Both parties willing to take the risk and you can't fault either party for their decision.

A somewhat similar situation happened with the tour to England right after England were defeated in the Caribbean. WICBC felt they couldn't turn down that revenue opportunity. Some players had prior commitments.

In that case, the WICBC allowed those players with prior commitments to participate in IPL as close as possible to the tour. In addition, I believe they also tried to compensate them for some of the earnings lost, in addition to the remuneration they received for WI duty.

In that case a combination of lack of proper preparation, a cold climate, and off field distractions led to poor on field performance. Plenty blame ON BOTH SIDES to go around.

In reply to imusic

WI weren't supposed to do that tour, but they took it as you said for revenue sake. They replaced Zimbabwe who had to pull out.

Nothing new.

Except there were agendas on display.

Note that all those agendas were absent when WI called a last minute tour of India for Tendulkar retirement party last year.

In reply to Commie

The agendas are not a one way street.

Both admin and players have their respective agendas. Sometimes the agendas coincide. Sometimes they don't.

In reply to imusic

For the England tour where was the agenda?

WI took the opportunity to make money. The zim tour was cancelled because of politics.

Last year WI tour of India happened because of India battle with South Africa Cricket, and the cancellation of that tour.

Isht happens.

Btw...have a look at agendas.Here

The idea that the WICB didn't try to make things work is one of the biggest myths out there. That is separate from them being incompetent,

What is obvious is that now the union is pretty much disbanded, and the WICB is now player rep and player boss

When the Indians took over world cricket WICB supported them. ICC created a window for IPL and champions league . WICB agreed. So they fully accept players going to those tournaments .

What I don't understand is how they will stop them going to IPL next year if there. Iis an ICC window.

In reply to doublecentury

Why would they stop them.

The WICB are running the players now. They profit when they play in IPL and accept thats the way forward.

WI First.

In reply to Courtesy

You don't know what "GTFOH" means?

In reply to Commie... was any 20/20 league playing when they toured India?

In reply to natty_forever

Let me answer you in as pragmatic a manner as possible so you can sum up this storm in a teacup.

You are employed in a decent job fulltime . You get some part time work that actually pays 5 times the fulltime work and your employer gives you room to work part time and get extra coin.

Then one day, your employer calls you to tell you there is an emergency, a client came in and asked to ramp up some work so they need you in some of the time you are allocating (with their blessing) to the part time outfit.

You are VEX. In fact you let it slip that you wouldnt mind if the business your employer working in go BUST, cause that is just a set of work for likkle money.

You forget that your employer is the one who put you in a position to do that part time work in the first place. They coulda release you and tell you go do that fulltime if thats what you want to do.

------------------------------------

Until the T20 leagues, like the NBA and the EPL can employ players year round, the responsibility is always to the primary employer who retains you.

You dont like it ? Leave the work (ie retire) and play T20 only. But they risk missing out on World Cup coin and the rev share from tours.

And herein is the rub.

ANd in a direct answer to your query, NO...there was no IPL but it was a small rest window before the NZ tour. That it was last minute was issue for the players. WIPA have done this before...ie querying tours which have been changed etc...and rightly so.

However to treat WI Cricket as if it owes you a favour and not the other way round is interesting.

We know that WI Cricket would pretty much be what it is without many of these players. The question is, without WI Cricket to put Chris Gayle for example on the world stage, where would he be ?

In reply to Commie

There was one other thing I never understood about the opposition to this English tour. Of the 15 in the squad, only three were contracted to IPL. Yet the players rep. seemed to ignored the fact that 12 other players would have an opportunity to make a substantial amount of money for a short tour. These were players like Devon smith and Sarwan, who depend on the game to make a living and who had no other playing obligations at the time.

In reply to imusic

IIRC the WICB only makes money from India, Australia and England tours.

They could have shortened the time between the end of the Bangladesh ODIs and Tests for starters. That's what NZ did to us last year.

As I said, there should be no consequences for the players or WICB if there is an IPL window. The WICB is too "red eye", which might explain the scheduling of series in conflict with IPL and other T20 tournaments so that it can extract money from the club teams for releasing players. I think Commie alluded to this earlier.

In reply to Commie

Not biting the hand that feeds you might also explain the lack of player complaints about that India tour,

In reply to Walco

Them fellas turn an area of dispute into a profit line.

In reply to Walco

Of course but it also reflects that Wavell is under Super Daves finger.

And Wavell knows it. Hell everyone knows it.

In reply to Commie

What are you suggesting? That Wavell is on the payroll?

In reply to Walco

You hear ANYTHING from WIPA since Wavell turn head ?

When Narine was told to return to camp or forego his Test place, did you hear the wind whistling in the trees as WIPA said nowt

In reply to JOJO

It was just an attempt to increase rev share. Its a great negotiating tactic, especially if you are a dynamic winning team with a strong brand.

But if you are not......

In reply to Commie... maybe because it did not jeopardize Nari playing for west indies in the future?

In reply to natty_forever

Thats weak. Real weak, because the player wanted to play. After all its extra tax free revenue the player missed out on.

In reply to Commie... yes, but the rule/policy was clear IMHO. That's all I ask for from the incompetent ones. Again I use my analogy, parent and child. Parent (WICB) just needs to be consistent and firm so that the child (players) will know the consequences of their actions before hand.

In reply to natty_forever

No employer worth their salt will base their organisation on employees who do not make their organisation a priority.

Hilaire was right and they should have dropped Gayle et al. Let them make their money by all means but when WI needs you, be available, or dont be retained.

By now at least some young players would be eating better.

In reply to Commie... would not have had a problem if they did. Once the policy is clear.

In reply to natty_forever

It was clear. Very clear.

The issue then started becoming dicey when fellas saw the kind of money they had to forego because the IPL had conditions which stated that the player has to be in India and available to get full payment.

In reply to Commie... well my bias towards the WICB made me pull a Marlon (not clear).

In reply to Commie

I find it interesting that a Jamaican President and CEO have been able to keep Wavell under manners, but a Trini President and CEO could not do the same with Ramnarine.

In reply to Walco

Ironically, Ramnarine was a creation of the WICBC

And he got so good at his job that he knew the CBA infinitely better than the WICBC.

It didn't matter where the President and CEO came from. There was Wes Hall and Brathwaite. Griffith and Brathwaite. Gordon and Aanensen. Hunte and Hilaire. Bajans, Trinis, Dotties.

What mattered is that they were unprepared and incompetent particularly with respect to dealing with the WIPA.

In reply to imusic

Mate, Ramnarine gave evidence in a High Court hearing on the MOU/CBA and apart from his frequent trips to the court's bathroom he failed to impress the judge with his garbage.

The rest is history. The MOU/CBA which he argued should exist into perpetuity was dealt a mortal blow in the courts. And thus ended the prolonged major war.

And the death of General Ramnarine.

In reply to imusic

Actually this all started because of Wes Hall, who put the WICB in isht with an imbalanced MOU.

In the end Rams jumped ship at the right time, when WIPA lost the right to retain use of that imbalance.

This is the first WICB Admin that has clear ground to operate on.

In reply to Courtesy

You nailed it!