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| Sunday, 28 November 2004 |
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May backs Windies against "ridiculous" Board ADELAIDE, Australia, Nov. 27 (Reuters) - Leading world cricket players' representative Tim May said on Friday he strongly supported the stance of top West Indies players in a sponsorship dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). May, who is Chief Executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA), said the WICB had offered their players a "ridiculous" contract for the one-day series tour of Australia in January, to play against the home side and Pakistan. "(They are) conditions that no group of players or player association could possibly accept," May said in a statement. "It is ridiculous to suggest that players should agree to give away the right for third parties to use their image and attributes for advertising and promotional purposes without any financial consideration," the former Australia spinner added. "It is equally ridiculous to suggest that players should agree to significant restrictions in the personal sponsorship market without any offer of financial compensation in return for those restrictions." World Test score record holder Brian Lara and several senior team mates look set to miss the triangular series, which starts in Melbourne on January 14. The row centres around official insistence that players cannot without prior approval endorse rival companies to the WICB's main sponsor. Only nine of the 25 squad members invited by the WICB to a three-week pre-tournament camp in Barbados starting next Monday had accepted, the board said on its website. Those nine had agreed to criteria linked to the invitation, the WICB said. The decision of the other 16 was described as "regrettable". May said player match fees in the West Indies were among the lowest in world cricket. "Players are reliant on personal endorsements to make a living from the game. If restrictions are to be applied to their ability to enter the endorsement market, those who seek these restrictions should adequately compensate the players," May said. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Radio on Friday he felt the dispute would be resolved. "I would expect to see the full-strength West Indies side here in January," he said. |
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