Contract crisis rocks West Indies ahead of T20 World Cup

A contract row has threatened the West Indies’ participation in the upcoming World Twenty20 in India with the head of the region’s cricket board saying the players will be thrown out of the squad for the big-ticket event if they do not agree to the financial terms by Sunday’s deadline.

The West Indies Cricket Board made its stand clear after an upset 15-man squad rejected the contract, which was offered to them. Speaking to a Jamaican radio channel ‘Hitz 92fm’, WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead was in no mood to back off from the board’s stand.

“The WICB is committed to play in the tournament, let me say that first,” Muirhead said. “No one will leave the shores of the West Indies without signing a contract and if these players in particular choose not to sign, then I guess we’ll be left with no option but to substitute other players for them.”

Earlier, captain of the West Indies T20 team, Darren Sammy had written to the board saying the players “cannot accept” what was on offer as they perceived there were “huge financial reductions” in the terms compared to previous global tournaments.

“We want to represent the West Indies but the financials on offer we can’t accept,” Sammy wrote.

Although the West Indies are struggling in the Test format, they remain a major force in the shortest format of the game.