… players to take part in regional tourney
WEST Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that all the striking players will make themselves available for selection for the forthcoming tour of Australia, even though the contracts issue remains unresolved.

Bravo’s statement will, nevertheless, come as a breath of fresh air in resolving the ongoing crisis between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA, though an official word is awaited.

”We are all going to make ourselves available, that is definite,” Bravo told The Age. ”We are looking forward to getting back playing international cricket.”

The WICB had stated earlier that only those players who make themselves available for the regional one-day tournament this month in Guyana will be considered for the tour of Australia.

Bravo assured that the senior West Indies players, including himself, will participate and give the selectors the chance to pick a full-strength squad for the first time since the ICC World Twenty20 earlier this year.

”We will be taking part in it. All of us are going to be available for selection to go to Australia,” Bravo said. ”Hopefully, they will select the best squad and we will get our opportunity again to represent the West Indies.”

When the contracts crisis broke out in July, the selectors were forced to field a second-string team for the home series against Bangladesh and the Champions Trophy in South Africa. Bravo said that it was painful to watch the current West Indies team getting hammered in both series but his team-mates had no regrets over going on strike over payments due from the WICB.

”It wasn’t a great feeling, but as a team we came up with a decision and we stand by our decision,” Bravo said.

There were fears back in Australia that the same weakened squad would tour the country, thus devaluing the tour, which includes three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and captain Ricky Ponting said they had their fingers crossed over an early resumption of the dispute.

Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers Association, welcomed the move by the West Indies players to come forward and try to speed up the process.

”I think we will see a greater urgency on this issue now,” May said. ”The West Indies players have made themselves available so you would like to think that the West Indies board would make some better decisions.

”If they go to Australia with a second-string team it will be as if they are airing their dirty laundry in public, and I don’t think Cricket Australia would be too happy. There is a complete breakdown of trust between the players and the board. It is all well and good for the players to come back to the fold but that trust has to be rebuilt.” (Cricinfo)