Windies board desperate to placate BCCI after tour abandonment
The Board of Control for Cricket in India had said on Tuesday it would initiate legal proceedings against the West Indies but gave no details. - BCCI
Bridgetown (Barbados): West Indies Cricket Board directors are seeking a meeting with their Indian counterparts in a bid to minimise the potentially colossal consequences of the unprecedented abandonment of the tour of India by the Caribbean side last week.The West Indies cut short their tour last Friday because of an internal pay dispute, even though the fifth one-day international, a Twenty20 match and three Tests still remained to be played.
India retaliated by cancelling a tour scheduled for February and March 2016 to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international.The Board of Control for Cricket in India, one of the richest bodies in world cricket, said earlier on Tuesday it would “initiate legal proceedings” against the West Indies but gave no details.Some initial estimates have stated the BCCI’s losses on the India tour at $65 million. Fighting a costly legal action is not something the WICB can afford while, given India’s tours generate huge sponsorship money for the host nation due to the country’s large cricket-viewing population, cancellation of the February-March fixtures threatens to be financially devastating for Caribbean cricket.
Following an eight-hour emergency meeting in Barbados later on Tuesday, the West Indies Cricket Board issued a brief statement saying they were “deeply embarrassed” by recent events and said a Task Force comprising “critical stakeholders”, would be established to review the premature end of the tour. Officials will also hold an urgent debriefing with the West Indies management in India led by team manager Richie Richardson, the former West Indies captain.
Windies assure S.A. of tour
With the abandonment raising fears about whether the West Indies can fulfil assignments in the near future, the WICB will try to assure authorities in South Africa that the series there of three Tests, one T20 international and five one-day internationals due to take place in December and January will go ahead as planned.
Acknowledging it was “mindful” of the decisions taken by the BCCI, the statement issued by the WICB — who did not, as previously indicated, hold a media conference — said in the light of a decades-long good relationship with their Indian counterparts, they looked forward to meeting them to discuss decisions which “can have serious implications.” —
( Source : AFP )
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