Windies top players pull out of WIPA
Saturday, August 8 2015
Seni or West Indies players have confirmed they are no longer members of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) that is currently led by former Jamaica and West Indies opener Wavell Hinds.
During the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) semi-finals and finals in Trinidad and Tobago, Newsday spoke to various high profile West Indies players from different territories to clarify their position, following long-standing rumours in the cricket fraternity since the India tour abandonment that many players are no longer part of the Players Association.
Newsday can confirm that players from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have cancelled their membership with WIPA, believing the organisation has gotten too close to the WICB.
One player who has played well over 100 internationals in some of formats for the West Indies spoke under a condition of anonymity about why he is no longer part of the Association.
“Since the India tour I have not been a member. It’s a lot of stress with WIPA at the moment, I see no reason why to be part of or contribute to a body that suppose to represent you but not doing it properly,†he said.
The cricketer, with over a decade of regional experience under his belt, continued: “I can only speak for myself (regarding WIPA non-membership), but I’d be surprised if any of the other guys who were in India are still members. As far as I know, WIPA now just has new West Indies players who don’t have a choice but to join and domestic players.†A domestic player who also spoke under a condition of anonymity and is captain of one the regional first-class teams said for now he is still a WIPA member.
“Basically to be honest, the senior guys pulled out of WIPA because of the India tour. While I’m close to many of them and understand their frustration, I wasn’t there so I have stayed with WIPA for now,†he explained.
Newsday tried to get a reaction from WIPA president Hinds, but a representative from WIPA stated he was currently not in the country. West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Muirhead was contacted and he was asked if the WICB is worried about the reality that so many senior players are no longer part of WIPA.
On June 15th, the WICB/WIPA sent out a joint press release stating they had agreed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which had triggered the pull out from India as players and their representative body wrangled over the previous MOU and CBA which changed their pay structure.
However since then, players such as Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons have stated publicly they do not want to play Test cricket as the MOU/CBA does not reward players for the longer format.
“I don’t want to speak for Wavell or WIPA’s behalf, so all I can say is that it is unfortunate that there are signs of disgruntlement with those players and WIPA.
“Regarding the pay structure, maybe some players who are in Twenty20 mode do not see it as lucrative enough (to play Tests).
But if you look at the 10 Test playing nations, our pay structure ranks West Indies in the top five across the board, with Australia, England, India and South Africa ahead,†explained Muirhead.
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