PORT of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago – Following the West Indies Cricket Board’s announcement of the schedule for the Regional Four-Day Tournament, the West Indies Players Association would like to reiterate its position that the tournament should consist of two rounds, not one.

The first point of the recently announced WIPA Fifteen (15) Point Development Plan for West Indies cricket reads: “The West Indies First Class season should be made up of two rounds of matches with a minimum of 12 four-day games per year played alongside the International Series.”

“One round is insufficient in this modern era of cricket. We have seen that in recent years,” said WIPA president and CEO Dinanath Ramnarine.

“There are complaints from all quarters about the players playing too much limited overs cricket and there is some validity to that. As such we are adamant that the four-day tournament should be two rounds in order to better prepare the players for international Test cricket,” Ramnarine added.

WIPA also notes with interest the call by current West Indies Team Manager and WICB director Joel Garner for greater emphasis in preparation before international tours as well as a longer first class season.

Similar calls were made by the newly elected president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) when he expressed his disappointment with the limited number of first class matches carded for next season and suggested that the regional first class season be lengthened to two rounds of matches.

While the Memorandum of Understanding between the WICB and WIPA requires that the parties agree to the Regional and International cricket annually, this decision was taken without such an agreement.

However, WIPA’s president indicated that he would be willing to meet with the WICB to discuss the matter further rather than activate the dispute resolution process since it would be in the interest of all parties to have agreement on this matter.