Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
IT IS said that all is well that ends well, and with the West Indies team, thanks to mediator, Dr. Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada, scheduled to travel to Australia following the impasse between the West Indies Board and the West Indies Players' Association, it appears, certainly as far as the tour is concerned, that all is now well with West Indies cricket.
Apart from the fact that there is still some negotiating to do before this impasse is settled to the satisfaction of both parties, that those negotiations will take place after the tour and that there still could be problems, the history of the relationship between the board and the association is such, however, that all is not well that even if and when the present impasse is settled, it will only be a matter of time before another tour or another series is threatened and there is need for another mediator.
POINTING FINGERS
According to the WICB, the problem lies with WIPA. According to WIPA, it lies with the WICB. Both sides, therefore, have been pointing fingers at each other, with the WICB accusing WIPA of sticking it up for more money, with
WIPA accusing the WICB of not looking after the players' interests, and as it is in the present impasse, with the sponsors usually caught in the middle, that cannot be good for West Indies cricket.
No one, no company likes to be involved in disputes. No one, no company will continue to pump money into anything that could break up at any time, and remembering, for example, the strike by the players a few days before the 1998-99 tour of South Africa, the strike called by WIPA on the eve of the Carib Beer semi-finals a year or two ago, if the present situation continues, it will only be a matter of time before sponsors start to shy away from West Indies cricket.
It is as simple as that.
AGE OF PROFESSIONALISM
WIPA, it appears, wants as much money as it can get for the players, and in an age of professionalism, even though WIPA should remember that the WICB needs to keep some of its money to fund things like administration and development, youth competitions and preparation of West Indies teams, nothing is wrong with that.
Apart from the confrontational approach by WIPA, by president Dinanath Ramnarine, and although it may not appear so when one looks at the number of people in its employ - including the number of Australians - and when one sees the number of staff at a cricket match around the islands, the problem is that the WICB is short of funds. The problem is that WIPA does not know that, that it does not understand that the WICB has other obligations apart from paying the players, or is it that WIPA, apparently operating as a trade union, does not care what happens to West Indies cricket as long as the players are OK?
Whatever it is, in the interest of Windies cricket, something needs to be done about the relationship between the WICB and WIPA.
The board, for example, needs to be more professional when dealing with issues involving the players, and WIPA must understand that it is part of West Indies cricket and that instead of waiting, apparently, on an opportunity to attack the board, it should work with the board.
Apart from the sponsors, the fans are also caught up in the conflict. Sometimes they take sides without knowing the full story, and in an effort to prevent that, the board, the WICB, must open its books so that the stakeholders in West Indies cricket, including the fans, will know what is what and who is being reasonable or unreasonable.
ALL IS NOT WELL
All is not well with West Indies cricket, and someone needs to call the WICB and WIPA together, sit them down in a room for as long as it takes, and read to them from the 'Good Book.'
WIPA must be made to understand that it is the WICB that is mandated to run West Indies cricket; the WICB must understand that the fans need to know how much money it has, how it spends that money, and that it is in its own interest that they know.
It would be interesting, for example, to see who the fans would support in an impasse involving money if the board made public its sources of revenue, what it earns, how much of the kitty goes to the players, how much a player earns for a series, and what is left to run West Indies cricket - to look after administration and development, competitions and the preparation of West Indies teams.
