West Indies seek India meeting in bid to solve crisis

BarbadosWest Indies Cricket Board directors are seeking a meeting with their Indian counterparts in a bid to minimise the potentially colossal consequences of the unprecedented abandonment of the tour of India by the Caribbean side last weekThe West Indies cut short their tour last Friday because of an internal pay dispute even though the fifth oneday international a Twenty20 match and three Tests still remained to be played India retaliated by cancelling a tour scheduled for February and March 2016 to play three Tests five onedayers and a Twenty20 internationalThe Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI one of the richest bodies in world cricket said earlier on Tuesday it would initiate legal proceedings against the West Indies but gave no details Some initial estimates have stated the BCCIs losses on the India tour at 65 millionFighting a costly legal action is not something the WICB can afford while given Indias tours generate huge sponsorship money for the host nation due to the countrys large cricketviewing population cancellation of the FebruaryMarch fixtures threatens to be financially devastating for Caribbean cricketFollowing an eighthour emergency meeting in Barbados later on Tuesday the West Indies Cricket Board WICB issued a brief statement saying they were deeply embarrased by recent events and said a Task Force comprising critical stakeholders would be established to review the premature end of the tourOfficials will also hold an urgent debriefing with the West Indies management in India led by team manager Richie Richardson the former West Indies captain Another former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd was in India as well in his capacity as chairman of selectors and should be expected to provide his input on the factors that contributed to the rapid deterioration of relations between the players the West Indies Players Association and the WICB South Africa concerns With the abandonment raising fears about whether the West Indies can fulfil assignments in the near future the WICB will try to assure authorities in South Africa that the series there of three Tests one T20 International and five OneDay Internationals due to take place in December and January will go ahead as planned Acknowledging it was mindful of the decisions taken by the BCCI the statement issued by the WICB who did not as previously indicated hold a media conference said in the light of a decadeslong good relationship with their Indian counterparts they looked forward to meeting them to discuss decisions which can have serious implications for West Indies cricketIn striking a hopeful note the WICB added it believes that a way can be found to repair the damage that has been caused and to ensure that similar events do not recur with the focus being on the betterment of West Indies and world cricketThat appears easier said than done however given the bitterness in the communication between Bravo WIPA president Wavell Hinds and WICB president Dave Cameron in the days preceding the abandonment of the tour Central to the dispute is the signing of a new Collective Bargaining AgreementMemorandum of Understanding between the WICB and WIPA in September that according to Bravo slashes the earnings of players in the senior mens team by as much as 75 percentAccusing Hinds of cosigning the agreement with Cameron without proper consultation with the players oneday captain Bravo advised the WICB head that his team no longer recognised the WIPA boss and his executive as representing their interestsInstead he requested that the governing body liaise with representatives of the disgruntled players choosing although those individuals have yet to be identified This request was rejected by Cameron triggering the decision to discontinue the tourAmid concerns that Bravo and a few other players may have jeopardised their contracts with franchises in the Indian Premier League by their action the chairman of the IPL Ranjib Biswal stated in Hyderabad on Tuesday that Caribbean cricketers were still welcome to participate in the sports most lucrative cricket competition