PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Outspoken players union chief Dinanath Ramnarine says regional cricketers are displeased with the current state of affairs and he has once again beseeched the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to be more professional in how they administer the game.
Speaking here Friday, Ramnarine said he had received numerous complaints from players throughout the recent regional first class season, with issues ranging from the standard of accommodation to practice facilities.
He said if these issues were not seriously addressed by the governing body for the sport in the region, the standard of cricket would continue to decline.
“The players are not happy with the way things are going in West Indies cricket at the moment and they have complained about a number of issues to us,” Ramnarine said.
“We have since taken it up with the West Indies Cricket Board and if they don’t act decisively, West Indies cricket is going to get worse. They are in breach of the ‘minimum standards requirement’ which we have signed and we have taken up the matter.
He continued: “Imagine, players complaining in this day and age about the state of hotels, no practice facilities, some had to sleep on the floor in a hotel in Trinidad and one player even had to bathe by a standpipe in Jamaica.
“These are the same players that you expect to go out there and give of their best but what are we putting in place for them.”
Ramnarine, who has locked horns with the WICB several times over the last year, said he had been in discussion with the governing body over players’ terms and conditions for several years now but there still seemed to be problems with reaching an agreement.
The former West Indies leg-spinner said affairs could not be allowed to continue in the same vein.
“What is lacking in West Indies cricket at the moment is professionalism. Once we continue to operate in an ‘anything goes’ way, then we are in for more problems and when one thinks that things are bad right now, it would get worse” Ramnarine argued.
“It is our sincere hope that the WICB get their act together and look into the problems in West Indies cricket and get things back on the right track.”
The West Indies Players Association president was involved in a highly-publicised dispute with the WICB last year over players’ contracts and recently over the length of the first class season.
This year, the WICB cut the first class season in half to just one round, a move that Ramnarine said was a backward step.
“We are playing the least amount of cricket in the world at the first class level. I noted that a director (Dr Allen Sammy) of the WICB said he was in support of the idea but while I agree with him that A team tours are important, I differ with him in terms of the one round tournament,” the former West Indies leg-spinner contended.
“If we want our players to improve and be competitive in the international arena, we must give them better conditions and a good first class structure is essential.”
Ramnarine said while he agreed with the revival of the A team programme, he did not think it should be at the expense of quality of the regional domestic tournament.
“When we think that having the cream of the crop playing A team, rather than having them play with players of lesser abilities, what are we telling those players?” he pointed out.
“Are we just leaving them behind as lesser players and not giving them ample chance to improve their standard?”