West Indies Cricket Fans

FORMER West Indies off-spinner Rangy Nanan yesterday questioned the decision by Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to reject central retainer contracts offered by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) last month.

“There are three different levels of contracts offered by the WICB and they are Grade A, B and C. I am not sure what grade Pollard and Bravo were placed in but from what I heard only Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were given Grade A contracts.

“I am not sure how true that is but if that is the case maybe they believed they could earn more money playing in different leagues, “ said Nanan yesterday.

The Trinidad and Tobago selector explained that Bravo and Pollard have a global demand and it would be financially viable for them to have their options open.

“If you are under contract by the WICB they could prevent you from playing in other tournaments because they are paying your salary.

If you do not have a contract you will not be paid if you are not selected and would make player available to play in other leagues” Nanan said.

The former Trinidad and Tobago captain does not believe that Pollard and Bravo will start a trend of players refusing to sign contracts offered by the West Indies team.

“Not all players will command the demand that Pollard and Bravo have.

He added “I think Bravo would play Test cricket for the West Indies if selected.” Nanan expressed his hopes that players would choose to play for the West Indies and not opt for lucrative overseas contracts.

“I think cricketers should play for the West Indies and not put their eyes on the money. We need to get back the pride of playing for the West Indies because it is the only thing that keeps the people in the West Indies together. If the West Indies lose the people in the Caribbean hurt,” said Nanan.

He revealed that during his playing days there was a great sense of pride playing for the West Indies with little emphasis on money.

“In our days there was not Twenty20 cricket but there was 50- over cricket. “However, there was so much pride to play for the West Indies. When I played for the West Indies you got paid when you were selected to go on tour. For the home series you were paid per Test match.

mapoui wrote:I dont know quite aboyut this precipitating a Brave New World of cricket. but it should further upset westindies mango-cart. and dat aint no unwelcome development!

let hunte and dem scramble fuh test players..if deh interested in that at all.

it could quite well be that this result..the refusal of contracts by some players... is exactly what they were aftter by offering unacceptable contracts in the first place

mapoui wrote:
let hunte and dem scramble fuh test players..if deh interested in that at all.