The deadline for the West Indies cricketers to indicate their willingness to tour South Africa is 5 pm today and from all reports the 15 players selected will sign their contracts and board the plane for South Africa.
The men selected to tour South Africa were given their match/tour contracts last week by the WICB, who asked them to put pen to paper by 5 pm or consider themselves out.
Information reaching the T&T Guardian is that the players will all be signing. A source close to the situation said the players have agreed to allow the process of resolution to take place while they compete against the South Africans.
West Indies will play three Test matches against South Africa, starting on December 17. This will be followed by three T20s and five ODIs, leading up to the World Cup in New Zealand and Australia in February.
The West Indies cricketers left their tour of India prematurely after talks broke down over their payment structure under the new MOU, signed between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (Wipa). Under the new MOU, the players had to part ways with the US$35,000 per day image rights fee.
In the new match/tour contract, the WICB has decided to take a different approach with section 5.5 of their contract and will either let the matter go to negotiation, arbitration or some sort of dispute resolution soon.
Whatever the players receive from the process will be paid to them retroactively. The WICB is asking them to play cricket in the mean time and hold for a decision on the resolution process.
