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The West Indies cricket team has demanded the immediate resignation of West Indies Players Association (WIPA) president Wavell Hinds over perceived conflicts of interests that supposedly affected the representation he gave the players in signing last month’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
The following is the full letter sent by the West Indies team to Hinds and copied to WICB president Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron, CEO Michael Muirhead, manager Clive Lloyd and other directors and stakeholders:
(Courtesy WIPA)
Dear Mr. Hinds,
After much consideration, the West Indies players have decided to participate in the 1st One Day International against India starting (today). This decision should not in any way be construed as an acceptance by the players of the unreasonable terms and conditions put forward to us by WICB nor is it an acceptance of the purported new Memorandum of Understanding.
The Players will not accept any agreement it has had no input in, did not give its consent to and which would infringe on its rights. We reserve all of our rights and intend to seek independent advice so as to establish the players’ best course of action.
For the record, we wish to reiterate our position put forward to the WICB earlier, that we continue under the old structure until a new agreement is reached between the players and WICB. Neither the WICB nor the players would be in a disadvantageous position since this would have been mutually agreed by the parties.
This we believe is a sensible and reasonable approach for all concerned.
(Copyright AFP 2014/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)
However, we are extremely disappointed that you have once again failed to respond to our letter dated October 4th 2014 signed by the players in India. In fact, you have not responded to any of our letters subsequently sent seeking clarification nor have you attempted to address any of our concerns raised in our correspondence.
We are of the view that the very important questions raised would have helped us to better understand the current position. These questions should be well within your knowledge since you, as President and CEO, ought to have known who were the lawyers used by WIPA, who were the Industrial Relations Advisors and all the facts surrounding the negotiations and signing of this purported MOU. This we believe to be a reasonable request.
Unfortunately to date, we have not yet even had sight of this purported new MOU and we are being asked to make important decisions regarding our career without knowing what exactly we are agreeing to. This is not a fair or transparent process especially by those who have taken the position to act always in our best interest.
As we have indicated previously the players are under undue stress and the team morale is at an all-time low.
In light of the above, we the players have now lost all confidence in your ability to properly represent the players in any meaningful way and as such, we are calling on the Officers of WIPA and any of those who may have a conflict of interest to tender their resignation unconditionally with immediate effect.
(Courtesy WIPA)
This would allow us the right to seek the necessary advice of professional advisors who we have confidence in and take the necessary course of action as we see fit.
We shall inform the WICB, that they are to not take any instructions from any of the Officers until such time as we are able to consult with the members of WIPA to put in an interim measure that is acceptable to all.
Please be guided accordingly,
The West Indies cricket team
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Has Hinds replied to any of the letters from the players??