Gordon
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP):
THE WEST Indies must offer year-long contracts to top players to foster the commitment and motivation needed to pull the team from the bottom of international rankings, the new West Indies Cricket Board president said on Friday.
Ken Gordon said the board had sought advice from cricket experts in Australia and Britain who all recommended year-long contracts, saying the move had helped their own countries build up committed teams.
"We feel that is the only way for us to go ourselves," said Gordon, who was elected as board president last Sunday.
Gordon, 74, said the top 10 West Indies players should receive year-long contracts. West Indies players currently must sign new contracts before each tour.
IDEA APPLAUDED
West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) president Dinanath Ramnarine, who met Gordon on Friday, applauded the idea.
"We have agreed that the retainer contract is one of the things we need to implement," he said.
Gordon and Ramnarine said the board and players were nearing a resolution to a months-long dispute over personal endorsement contracts.
Several top West Indies cricketers, including star batsman Brian Lara, were excluded from the squad that recently toured Sri Lanka due to an impasse between players and the board over guaranteed fees from sponsor Digicel.
"The players ... have to be prepared to give a little, and we have to remember that whatever we do must be in the best interest of West Indies cricket," Ramnarine said.
Gordon has said resolving the dispute would be his top priority as board president.
"We feel it's important that everybody begins to look at this process from a clean page," he said.
In one of his first actions as president, Gordon established a committee that will work to secure a third victory for the West Indies in the World Cup, to be held in the Caribbean in March 2007.
He said he has asked legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd to head the committee. Lloyd was considering the offer, Gordon said.
The West Indies were the dominant cricket team in 1970s and '80s. They are now in the bottom group of the 10 Test playing nations.
