Cricket: Windies battle goes on

The West Indies might be playing an extra test in New Zealand this summer, but what sort of team they'll bring is open to speculation.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is locked in a seemingly endless dispute with the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) over issues regarding players' rights to individual endorsements.

WIPA boss Dinanath Ramnarine, a former test leg-spinner, told the Herald on Sunday he had called in Tim May, the manager of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, to help resolve matters. He is in Trinidad for a series of crisis meetings.

The West Indies have just arrived back from Sri Lanka, where a side shorn of players like star batsmen Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were humiliated in a two-test series and an ensuing tri-series.

The WICB sent a team to Sri Lanka that opened up further recriminations, with accusations players were coerced into breaking solidarity under duress.

"Obviously you want your best players available all the time," Ramnarine said, "but players should be picked on cricketing abilities, not their commercial abilities."

In a summer short of a star attraction, New Zealand Cricket [NZC] can ill afford another lopsided series.

Although the Windies do not arrive until February, both sides' positions have become so entrenched it is difficult to see a way through the issue.

"The issue is personal endorsement rights and the board's contract with their sponsor which in our view infringes those rights," Ramnarine said from the Caribbean.

The WICB is sponsored by telecoms company Digicel while many players, including Lara, have long-held existing endorsement deals with rival firm Cable & Wireless.

Ramnarine said the players were still standing firm but "we have a responsibility to the game and want to get this resolved.

"At this point of time it is very difficult to get agreement moving forward, however WIPA remains committed to bringing in outside parties because there are fundamental differences."

The WICB has recently elected a new president, Ken Gordon, whose stated first objective is to broker a settlement in the dispute.

After the Zimbabwe tour was initially put in doubt two months ago, NZC has been desperately trying to fill the void in the calendar.

A FICA-inspired series like last year was ruled a no-goer, with New Zealand Players' Association manager Heath Mills saying there wouldn't be the "same level of sympathy" there was when Sri Lanka were forced home because of the tsunami.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY