SIR Shridath Ramphal is moving quickly to fulfill his mandate as chosen mediator to resolve the impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

Since the announcement on Tuesday evening of a truce brokered by President Bharrat Jagdeo in his capacity as current chairman of the Caribbean Community, Ramphal has been in contact with, among others: The Guyanese Head of State – CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington, President of the WICB (Dr Julian Hunte) and WIPA’s President Dinanath Ramnarine in the quest for an early meeting to determine the way forward.

In a statement he issued yesterday (Wednesday), the former Commonwealth Secretary General and Chairman of The West Indian Commission, who lives in Barbados, noted:

“West Indies cricket is at the centre of West Indian life. I feel honoured to have been invited by the WICB and WIPA to be the Mediator in their dispute which has so shattered our regional life….”

Sir Shridath urged everyone concerned to “carefully read” the agreement reached on Tuesday in Georgetown that resulted from the intervention of President Jagdeo. He said that the understanding and intent of both the Board and the Players, “is to pursue the mediation process in a spirit of willingness to resolve the issues…”

He congratulated President Jagdeo on “brokering the agreement through a ‘good offices’ role which has responded to the needs of regional cricket without imposing itself on it “.

The former Chancellor of the University of the West Indies further declared that he was “asking the media’s support in not expecting day by day information”, noting that “mediation does not always benefit from instant publicity…” (R.SINGH).