Confusion surrounds Windies tour of India as payment dispute continues

Sport360 staff 16:05 17/10/2014
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  • Heading home: West Indies leave the India tour with four matches unplayed.

    Confusion surrounded the future of the West Indies' tour of India after the West Indies Cricket Board denied the squad had been called home.

    The five-match one-day international series has been overshadowed by an ongoing dispute over payments between players and the WICB and during Friday's fourth match in Dharamsala, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that the WICB had cancelled the remainder of the tour.

    That would mean the fifth ODI at Eden Gardens and the subsequent Twenty20 international and three Tests would not take place, but the WICB later insisted in a statement on its official Facebook page – after India arranged a five-match ODI series with Sri Lanka to fill the void – that it "has taken no decision to discontinue the ongoing tour".

    The West Indies had earlier cancelled the remainder of their tour of India due to an ongoing dispute over player payments, according to a Board of Control for Cricket in India statement.

    The announcement came while the fourth of a scheduled five one-day internationals was ongoing in Dharamsala.

    A BCCI statement read: "The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has informed the BCCI of its decision to cancel the rest of its ongoing tour to India because of a dispute with its players, and has advised the BCCI that its players will return home immediately."

    The Indian board said it will take up the tour cancellation by the West Indies with the International Cricket Council.

    "The BCCI wishes to inform all its stakeholders, especially ardent fans of the Indian cricket team, that this is a unilateral decision taken by the WICB and its players, in spite of several appeals to the WICB to honour its commitment and complete the series," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said.

    "The BCCI will pursue all options available to protect its rights, whilst seeking appropriate action from the ICC to ensure that its interests and those of the game at large will not suffer any damage due to such acts of indiscretion."

    The BCCI also announced it had finalised a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka between November 1 and 15 to replace the cancelled West Indies tour.

    "The BCCI wishes to thank Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for its swift response and for extending its support to ensure that the international cricket season is not curtailed," a separate statement from the BCCI said.

    Former West Indies fast bowling great Michael Holding, who was working as a TV commentator on the tour, said the development was "ridiculous" and "embarrassing."

    "I have never seen anything like this in the past," Holding told Sky TV.

    "I can see serious repercussions from this. I think this is a ridiculous decision by the West Indies Cricket Board. They like to hide behind half-truths.

    "It's embarrassing for me, as someone who played for the West Indies, to see this happening. I was told a director of the WICB did not know about this decision. Let us hope the majority of the board made this decision, otherwise it has been made by very dubious means."

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