Published: Nov 10, 2016, 11:52 AM (IST)
Edited: Nov 10, 2016, 11:52 AM (IST)
It’s a fact that West Indies players are most of the time involved in playing overseas Twenty20 leagues and reacting to this, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has asked ICC Full Members to understand the consequences of it for cricket in the region. The WICB board has come up with a new idea over this by applying a levy a release of 20% of players contract fee before handing them No-Objection Certificate (NOC), who are taking part in overseas T20 leagues and the release fee would be paid by host nation board of that particular league. Almost all of their big players are currently involved in playing different T20 leagues across the globe. ALSO READ: West Indies are trying to take cricket to another level, says, Roddy Estwick
“WICB is seeking to encourage other ICC Full Members to recognise the impact that players leaving the West Indies to play in domestic T20 leagues has on West Indies cricket, and to work with WICB in finding a solution to the challenge of securing the best cricketing talent with the limited resources available,” the WICB media release said. The board further added that they have made plenty of appeals to other country boards and will drag the matter till it get resolved. “We will continue to have these discussions with the Full Member boards to resolve [the matter] as soon as possible. We would like them to follow the precedent already set.”
Reacting to this, other boards like Cricket South Africa and Cricket Australia are surprised with this step by WICB and raised their objection public. That led to Kieron Pollard being stranded in Trinidad after unable to secure the NOC, which made his participation almost impossible in South African domestic T20 tournament but later it was granted on Tuesday.
“We are aware that, over the last three years, the number of domestic Twenty20 leagues has increased and there are now eight, including our own Caribbean Premier League,” WICB added and continued by saying, “This means that there are now year-round lucrative opportunities around the world for West Indian cricketers, competing with West Indies regional competitions and sometimes even with West Indies international cricket. At present, there are 18 players in seven leagues.” ALSO READ: Darren Bravo reportedly offered Grade C central contract by WICB leading to refusal
Earlier, WICB said that funds generated from these release fees will be used in creating contracts for Caribbean players in T20s but on Wednesday, they said that it will be utilised for the development of regional cricket. “The release fees form part of an overall contribution to the continued development of: the six franchises and clubs represented, High Performance programme, training and development of technical officials, women’s cricket, A-team tours, a comprehensive under-19 programme, and are split between WICB, the Territorial Board and the club within the territory with which the player is registered,” WICB stated.
