PRESIDENT of the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association (WICUA), Vivian Johnson has described the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between his entity and Cricket West Indies (CWI) as a beacon of opportunity for the two organizations “to work together for the ultimate benefit of the sport we love and serve – West Indies Cricket.”

Representatives of the two sides met recently to ratify the memorandum which aim and objective are to strengthen the bond and relationship between CWI and WICUA.
A delighted WICUA President Johnson described the signing of the MOU between the two West Indies organizations as not only historic, but unprecedented between Cricket Boards and umpires’ Associations.
“Special recognition and credit must be given to former CWI CEO Mr. Johnny Grave for his unrelentless effort in working with us at WICUA to craft this document to ensure it fulfills the required mandate, Johnson pointed out.

According to the WICUA President, ‘it offers opportunities for both parties to have direct consultations, communication and discussions with each other on vital and important issues.”
The Jamaican-born Johnson disclosed that “the MOU brings into fruition a new contractual agreement for fees between the CWI and the WICUA for the contracted and non-contracted umpires, over a four-year period

“It is a far-reaching agreement that provides assurance to the umpires in terms of their expectations and status in the future.”
Johnson showered praise on CWI President, Dr. Kishore Shallow and his team and to the WICUA Executive and their team for creating the agreement.

“Finally, I want to thank the WICUA Executives, former WICUA President Mr. Cecil Fletcher, the umpires’ representatives Messrs Gregory Brathwaite and Christopher Taylor for their contribution towards the negotiations to ensure that this final document became a reality. I am thus hoping that this MOU is the start of greater things to come in the fostering and building of this relationship that can only redound to the benefit of west Indies Cricket.