Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: The ongoing dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has not changed the commitments of Christopher Gayle and Ramaresh Sarwan, according to a press release late Wednesday evening.
The press release was issued by Attorney at Law Sanjeev, the man who represented the two players during the Cable and Wireless/Digicel contracts dispute earlier this year. Despite not being selected in the region's team for the current tour of Sri Lanka, Datadin said the players "are firmly committed to West Indies cricket."
"Christopher Gayle and Ramaresh Sarwan wish it to be known that despite not participating in the current West Indies Cricket Team Tour to Sri Lanka 2005 they are firmly committed to West Indies Cricket and the loyal West Indian cricket fans," the release said.
"They wish it be known that regrettably they found themselves in a painful and difficult situation regarding their participation in the current West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka. Their absence was a consequence of circumstances which were unresolved despite the apparent resolution of the major stumbling block in the dispute after intervention on their behalf," the statement added.
Making a difficult choice
The players were caught up in two sticky decisions and in the end supported the WIPA by refusing to sign a Match/Tour contract presented to them by the WICB.
"They were faced with two difficult options; firstly to refuse to play for the West Indies and appear to be selfishly abandoning West Indies Cricket and the many loyal fans who have supported them faithfully over the years, and to whom they owe a debt of gratitude for their loyalty. Secondly, one in which if they choose to participate in the tour they would appear to be abandoning their team mates and colleagues who have sought their support with whom they have fought many a battle and achieved success for the West Indies on the field of play.'
"They wish to record their disappointment in the way the dispute was handled and the enormous pressure placed upon them by both sides of the dispute. They chose not to tour and to stand in solidarity with their colleagues. In no way was their decision an endorsement of the position of either side of the dispute."
The release said the two players are loyal representatives but made the complicated decision to watch the West Indies from home as they went down 2-0 in the Test series.
"Team loyalty is paramount to them and in light of other team members not wishing to tour, they felt they had little choice but decline to go to Sri Lanka. The decision not to tour was a difficult one; and if offered the opportunity again to play for the West Indies they are likely to consider their position independently.
"They wish to say to their loyal fans and the West Indian public that their commitment to West Indies cricket remains firm and seek their understanding at this very difficult time. They look forward to representing the West Indies team and being full contributors to West Indies cricket in the future by doing their part in restoring West Indies cricket to its former glory. Their simple desire and object to play cricket was unnecessarily complicated and confused by the unrelenting and unnecessary dispute between the WICB and WIPA," the release declared.
Expressing disappointments
"Both players wish to express their disappointment with the handling of the entire matter and encourage the stakeholders of the dispute to embark upon a process of resolution in utmost good faith and a spirit of compromise. They fear that the current approach to the resolution of the dispute is only likely to deepen the divide between the stakeholders and is unlikely to bring resolution to a dispute which is so painful to them and to every West Indian.
"They call upon the stakeholders in the dispute to forthwith engage in meaningful and purposeful negotiations in a spirit of compromise and one in which the very cricket which both sides claim to want to improve is not destroyed in the name of 'betterment' and 'progress'”.
The release ended saying: "Further, they wish it to be known that they accept and recognise the right of each individual cricketer to determine for himself whether to tour or not and wish the current representatives of the West Indies cricket team well on the remainder of their tour of Sri Lanka and wish to in no way be associated with any criticism of those players whether public or in private."
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