Aug 5, 2006, 19:04 GMT
New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has announced the squad for the tri-series against India and Australia in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in September despite a lingering pay dispute with its players.
According to the official WICB website, Brian Lara will lead the 14-member squad in a competition whose dates are still not announced.
India and Australia have already confirmed participation in the series that is seen as prelude to the 10-nation Champions Trophy to be held in India in October-November.
'The WICB has accepted the invitation from the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to participate in the tri-nation series. In the event that any of the players do not accept the (WICB) invitation by Thursday to play in the series, a suitable replacement will be chosen,' said the website.
Several rounds of talks between the WICB and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) have failed to produce a solution to the pay dispute.
WICB said that players are demanding payments of $40,000 at the lower end of the scale and $95,000 at the higher end, which represents 40 percent of the net revenue to be paid to the WICB and a premium of 847 percent on normal match tour fees, said the website.
'The board considers that demand totally unacceptable and as much as it regrets the necessity to do so, has now extended invitations directly to the players selected.'
The WICB offer made to the players was that they would be earning between $25,000-plus at the lower end of the scale to $59,000-plus at the higher end. This is net of expenses for four one-day internationals with the prospect of each player earning an additional 50 percent on these fees if the West Indies qualifies for the final.
'This represents an unprecedented 488 percent on normal match tour fees and 25 percent of the net revenue to be paid to the WICB for the series - an offer that was only possible because of the one-off nature of the series and the commitment of the WICB to enhance earnings of players whenever practicable,' said the WICB.
Talks were held between WIPA representative Dinanath Ramnarine WICB's Deryck Murray and when they failed WICB president Kenneth Gordon discussed the issue with Ramnarine. But stalemate continues.
With the deadline for accepting the invitation for participation over, WICB sent the invitations directly to the selected players.
SQUAD: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Carlton Baugh, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Marlon Samuels and Wavell Hinds
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service
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