(Wisdenindia.com) – THE West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) hit back at its detractors on Wednesday insisting it was trying to find ways to keep its best players competing for the national team.The WICB has faced calls recently for the entire board to resign, and following the men’s World Twenty20 victory in India last month, Darren Sammy blasted the sport’s policy-makers in the Caribbean.
The most recent call came two days back with a group of former West Indies players calling for accountability from the WICB and supporting dismantling the existing structure.
Sammy’s words had been backed by Dwayne Bravo, the all-rounder, who launched a scathing attack on David Cameron, the WICB president, whom he branded “immature”, “arrogant” and “small-minded”.
In a document sent to the media on Wednesday, the WICB claimed it was trying to resolve issues which upset its top-level players.
One of those issues is pay, with players demanding more from the WICB to keep them tied to the national team rather than cashing in on one of the lucrative contracts on offer in Twenty20 leagues around the world.
The WICB said it will meet with the players to discuss the issue at a retreat during the summer. “The primary focus for this year’s retreat will be to find workable solutions with regard to re-engagement of players, and how they fit into the existing high performance programme and to determine the most affordable remuneration packages,” said the WICB statement.
It promised to make changes but insisted that it “so far has lived up to its promises”.
It also said that results, – both the men’s and women’s teams won their Twenty20 World Cups last month with the Under-19 side winning the World Cup in February – showed they were doing something right.
“That accomplishment has come as part of the high performance programme implemented just over two years ago. That there are small groups clamouring for the board’s dissolution is reason to ask what more could a region want?”