The death of West Indies Test cricket

PORT OF SPAIN, 8 NOV: West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has again accused the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of axing him as captain because of his role in the abandonment of the tour of India, and says this is a breach of his rights.

Though the TTCB rejected the player’s initial allegations in a statement earlier this week, Ramdin iterated he had been told he would not be appointed captain because he did not "demonstrate proper leadership" in the West Indies players’ controversial decision abruptly to quit the series over a pay row with their union, the West Indies Players Association.

“On 3 November, 2014, I attended a meeting with the TTCB. At that meeting, I was told since I did not demonstrate proper leadership in relation to the tour,  I would be relieved of the captaincy and replaced by Rayad Emrit,” Ramdin said in a statement.

“I understood this to be a punishment contrary to the undertaking given by the WICB at the meeting on Friday, 31 October, 2014. I am also advised that this action is a breach of my rights as the task force appointed by the WICB has not made any findings and has made no findings of misconduct against me,” he added.

Ramdin was one of the players who walked off the tour of India last month, sparking off a bitter dispute between the WIPA, the WICB and themselves.
Their actions, which wrecked the one-day tour and also resulted in the cancellation of the three-Test tour, left the WICB facing a damages claim from the Board of Control for Cricket in India of nearly $42 million.
At a recent high-level meeting here chaired by St Vincent’s prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, Ramdin said the WICB had given the assurance that none of the players involved in the abandoned tour would face recriminations.
Ramdin said the TTCB’s actions were a violation of these agreements, and claimed he had even been barred from attending a recent Trinidad and Tobago team practice session.