GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – West Indies Cricket Board director, Conde Riley, has blamed the contentious Collective Bargaining Agreement, for some of the controversy which has plagued the regional game in recent years.
The outspoken Barbadian administrator made the point while speaking during the feature address at the Guyana Cricket Board’s Awards ceremony here.
He also pointed out that the eventual renegotiation of the agreement two years ago allowed the WICB to make transformational changes to the game.
“Successive presidents and boards were stifled by a Collective Bargaining Agreement which was designed at the time when Sir Wesley Hall was president, to give players a voice in their professional management through the West Indies Players Association (WIPA),” the Chronicle newspaper here quoted Riley as saying.
“The WICB finally got approval to renegotiate the old Collective Bargaining Agreement with WIPA and moved swiftly to spread the 25 per cent of its revenues which is set aside for players’ salaries from 15 players to an additional 90 players and we also brought 10 ladies on board.”
The CBA was at the centre of many of the disputes which erupted between the WICB and players union, WIPA, and which had to be eventually resolved by the law courts.
More in today’s Daily Observer.