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St John’s (Antigua), The year-long impasse between the BCCI and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has ended. The Indian team will tour the Caribbean islands in mid-2016 for a four-Test series.
The relationship between the two boards had come under severe strain after the West Indian team abandoned their India tour midway in October last year.
“WICB president Dave Cameron today confirmed that following discussions with BCCI president Shashank Manohar, West Indies will host India in the Caribbean in 2016,” said a media release issued by WICB.
“This agreement is subject to the WICB and the Players Association giving a joint commitment to complete, at a later date, the tour which prematurely ended in October 2014. Cricket remained the centrepiece of our discussion and we are happy to be at this juncture,” added Cameron. Although the BCCI top brass remained unavailable for comment, it is learnt that after Cameron took the initiative to speak to Manohar, the BCCI chief assured them that the resumption of cricketing ties will depend on their commitment to complete the abandoned tour.
The West Indian players had then cited the failure of the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) and WICB to resolve the disputes arising from the MoU and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed by the two parties in September 2014. The then BCCI administration had claimed damages amounting to nearly $42 million. However, the cash-strapped Caribbean cricket board chief Cameron and CEO Michael Muirhead had said that they would be unable to pay such a huge financial penalty.
With WICB in dire financial conditions, a series against India is a definitive solution to their current state of disarray.
