West Indies players get revised package

CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC):

President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Julian Hunte, has disclosed some of the details of agreements reached with the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) following the recent dispute between the two sides.

The disclosure came hours before the departure of the West Indies team for the tour of England to play two Tests and three one-day internationals.

One of the main bones of contentions raised by WIPA was the level of fees paid to players taking part in regional competitions.

Revised package

"WICB offered a revised package which included increases in new match fees of up to 300 per cent on a tiered basis according to seniority, Provident Fund provisions and retainer contracts," said Hunte in a news release yesterday.

He added: "A compromise was reached on a proposal from WIPA that only a flat match fee will be paid to players."

The unscheduled tour of England had also been a contentious matter which led to threats of the players boycotting matches in the recent home series against the English.

Hunte explained that the scheduling of the England tour came following an agreement between the WICB and the England & Wales Cricket Board to vary their 2010 Future Tour Programme to now take place in 2009 and 2012.

But the players were also upset that the WICB unilaterally agreed to the change without consulting WIPA - and this put in jeopardy lucrative contracts for a handful of players who had signed to play in the Indian Premier League.

"On the tour of England, WICB has offered a significantly higher payment to players - over and above that which would normally have been paid on such a tour - including a special provision for contracted IPL players to mitigate against any loss of earnings," said Hunte.

Fixed percentage

The WICB has been seeking to get WIPA to agree to a fixed percentage of its revenue to cover all player payments. This would be in keeping with other international boards which have similar arrangements with their players' association.

"The WICB is pleased that WIPA has agreed to discuss and finalise a framework for payment of player fees and hopes that the framework will secure a fixed percentage of WICB revenues for player payments, thereby avoiding tour negotiations and confrontation," said Hunte.

"The WICB is hoping that this framework can be agreed to before its next financial year which commences in October."