The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is awaiting the signatures of two more players from the squad of 15 selected and they have until this afternoon to indicate whether they will be part of the Caribbean side World T20 team or not.
The WICB had given the players a deadline of today, to indicate their willingness to play at the World Tournament after the players indicated they were dissatisfied with their financial remuneration for the tournament.
Captain Darren Sammy had written the WICB informing them that the players wanted to re-negotiate their match fees and bonuses for the event, as they are not members of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).
Sammy called for a doubling of the US$6900 match fee and also called on the board to give the players 100 per cent of the prize money should they go on to win the tournament in India.
The WICB responded by saying they were not open to any negotiations with anyone but the players body and held their ground, telling the players that if they did not sign by today, they would not be on the plane to India.
On Friday evening, the board had received nine signed contracts and were still awaiting the others. Yesterday, the board received four more and with two outstanding it seems that the full team will be assembled after all.
…Nurse replaces Narine
Meanwhile, Barbadian spinner Ashley Nurse has been included on the team, after mystery spinner Sunil Narine pulled out. Narine in a letter to the WICB indicated that he was not ready to resume international cricket, he cited insufficient progress in the rehabilitative work on his bowling action. He is currently banned from bowling in International Cricket.
The selectors decided to go for Nurse as the replacement and he would enter camp with the team later this week in Barbados. He is currently playing for the Barbados Pride against the Windwards Volcanoes at Kensington Oval.
The West Indies team will host a camp in Barbados before moving on to Dubai where they play four warm-up matches and then on to India for the tournament. They play two warm-up games before going into action in their first match of the tournament on March 16 against England in Mumbai.
