Since the dawn of West Indies cricket, it seems, players representing the regional team earned the lion’s share of money made by the West Indies Cricket Board. Meanwhile, those players at the first-class level made scraps, never enough for them to put food on their tables and take care of their families.
Under the previous agreement what obtained was that those who represent the region, most of them, were on retainer contracts that paid them between US$80,000 and US$125,000 per annum. That’s more than enough off which one can live comfortably in the Caribbean. In Jamaican dollars, that’s approximately between $8.9 million and J$14,000,000 per year; in Trinidadian currency – between TTD 507,500 and 793,000. Anyway, you slice it it’s a lot of money. Then these same players also earn US$5000 per Test match, US$2000 per One Day International and just over a thousand dollars for a T20 International.
Then these same players also earned a percentage of image rights to the players that during this recent tour of India worked out to be approximately US$735,000. Some would earn larger shares from that money because they would be playing all three formats, while some would be playing One Day Internationals and T20 only. Many of these senior players also make a very good living playing cricket in the various T20 tournaments across the globe from the IPL, the Big Bash and the CPL especially.
It’s a very good living.
Under the new agreement, the senior players would give up a large chunk of that money that would be reallocated to paying the regional players. In the meantime, their retainers would be topped up to the point where they would be paid between US$100,000 and $150,000 and their match fees would be increased to US$5750, US$2300 and US$1250 for Tests, ODIs and T20s respectively. They still have their IPL, CPL and Big Bash contracts too.
Meantime, the first class players are earning much, much less. According to my information, these ‘fringe’ players, some of whom will one day form the West Indies team, make only US$1300 a match for five matches for the season. If a player makes all five matches that’s US$6500 for the year!
Given the situation, wherein the West Indies have been floundering for more than two decades at languishing at the bottom of the rankings of Full Member Nations of the International Cricket Council, something had to give. The imbalance had to be addressed and some level of parity be brought to the equation.
Regional players would be transformed into professional cricketers, that is, they would be playing and mastering their craft daily as opposed to going to a 9-5 and then taking net sessions in batting or bowling for a few hours each evening. If West Indies Cricket was to be competitive once more then the mechanics of what obtains now has to change.
It is what gave birth to this proposed franchise system that would see regional players earning between US$20,000 and US$30,000 a season as between basic pay and increased match fees earned over an extended match schedule would see them earning a much better living than they currently enjoy.
That was the basis on which the new CBA/MOU was drafted. It meant that some money from the two-year-old Caribbean Premier League, the CPL, and money from the senior players’ image rights would be used to fund this programme designed by Richard Pybus and used by the most successful teams in the world, to raise the standard of West Indies Cricket, once the pride of the region but now mostly a joke.
So, here is a quick rundown of what transpired since the new agreement was signed.
On September 19, the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association signed this new Collective Bargaining Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding. WIPA president Wavell Hinds says agreement “not perfect”, but brings stability to the system.
On October 7, the West Indies players threaten to sit out the first ODI against India and claim that Hinds “hoodwinked” them while signing the MoU.
On October 8, West Indies play the first ODI, but the captain Bravo asks Hinds and other WIPA officials with conflict of interests, to tender their resignation immediately.
On October 11, Bravo writes to WICB president Dave Cameron seeking an “urgent intervention” over payment issues between the board, the players, and WIPA.
On, October 15, the growing impasse between the players and WIPA intensifies, with the players and WIPA exchanging emails. Hinds denies all claims made against him and says senior West Indies players had expressed “100% support” towards a resolution. Bravo denies any such a resolution was passed.
On, October 16, the WICB says it will “engage” only with the WIPA, and not the players, to resolve the issue.
And on October 17, West Indies play the fourth ODI against India in Dharamsala, but news breaks during the game that the rest of the tour has been abandoned.
The WICB now finds itself facing a lawsuit as India seeks to recover an estimated US$65 million in damages and there is a proposal to ban West Indies players from the lucrative IPL for at least one season.
And that’s just the start as India is also threatening to abandon their 2016 series here in the West Indies that would deny the WICB important future revenue.
Now let us right here concede that both sides erred in this situation. WIPA’s executive should have ensured the players saw the details of the new pay structure under the revised CBA/MoU before they departed for the tour of India. Similarly, the players should have demanded their contracts before they departed especially in light of the new elements that would have been contained within. The WICB could have also moved to ensure that all parties were in agreement before they departed for the tour, even though they did explain that it was difficult to do that because some of the players were already in India playing in the IPL. To me that was kind of weak because there is the internet, Skype and several other methods by which the relevant information could be communicated.
However, where I come down hard on the players is that after being on tour, in India, the biggest market for the sport and the home of the most powerful board in the world, they decide to strike without considering the ramifications?
Yes, they would have been upset that the request from Bravo to Dave Cameron that the WICB only deal with them and not WIPA, was rejected but striking was not the solution, especially since a team that comprised of Hinds, WICB CEO Michael Muirhead and others were to arrive in India to make a better offer to the players in an effort to diffuse the tension and more importantly bring a resolution to the impasse. The players withdrew their services three days before the negotiating party was to arrive on October 20.
There are rules to be adhered to and the players broke those rules.
We don’t know for sure if there were other forces at play but whatever the situation is, the players pulling out of the tour was a big mistake because now, everybody gets hurt, all because of the actions of a few privileged players who seem only concerned about their welfare and not that of anyone else.
It would seem that these senior players are on their own in this fight because I suspect the 90 others who stand to benefit from the new agreement have been silent on this matter. The West Indies ‘A’ team is still playing in Sri Lanka and the franchise system is still going ahead. Barbadian fast bowler Tino Best may have been speaking on behalf of most of the regional players when he threw his support behind Wavell Hinds and WIPA for putting food in the tables of the regional players.
In striking the senior players have cut off their noses to spite their faces and that cannot be in the best interest of West Indies Cricket. Yes, WIPA and the WICB may have blundered to some degree in this case but it is the senior players, in striking while on tour, who have really dropped the ball.