WICB not surprised

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Ernest Hilaire expected there would have been players unwilling to sign the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) central retainer contracts.

But the Chief Executive Officer of the WICB clearly wants to move on from the setback, after he announced that the regional governing body was spending around US $15 million on a development programme that included more youth cricket, training camps and representative tours.

Incumbent West Indies captain Chris Gayle, as well as all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard stunned the region and the cricket world over the last two weeks, when they chose not to accept WICB central contracts.

Outside of sporadic appearances for the West Indies and in regional cricket, they have all opted to shop their skills around to the highest bidder in lucrative domestic leagues around the world.

"It is the players' right to decide whether or not they want to accept a central contract," said Hilaire at a media conference yesterday, following a two-day WICB directors meeting.

"I was not entirely surprised there were players that were not willing to sign the central contract. There seems to be a thinking out there - and I'm not sure who has advised them - that they don't have to sign central contracts and they can still play wherever they want."

The best decision

He noted: "The rules of international cricket do not exactly allow for this. But they have made their decision and we have been in contact with them and they felt they were making the best decision."

Hilaire disclosed that the WICB directors have started dialogue about how to minimise such a fallout in the future that would essentially "make all stakeholders happy".

But he emphasised that the WICB has probably been the most generous international board in granting No Objection Certificates (NOC), which give players permission to play in domestic leagues of other international boards.

"It has been to our detriment," he said. "We gave an NOC to a player to play in the Big Bash (in Australia), he got injured and could not play for our one-day international team. We have also allowed players to arrive days before important matches and play for the West Indies.