International cricket has been plunged into crisis by a row over pay between the West Indies players and their board that has led to the abrupt termination of their tour of India. There are now doubts over the West Indies team’s next series in South Africa, their participation in the World Cup early next year, and even their future in Test cricket – which would have a direct impact on England, who are due to play a three‑match series in the Caribbean next spring.
India have already warned that they may consider withdrawing from a scheduled tour of West Indies in 2016, a move that would have crippling financial implications on a board who are dangerously reliant, like most of the rest of the cricketing world, on Indian television revenue. That would be in addition to any legal action they take against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for this abandonment, which has been estimated to cost India up to £31m in sponsorship and broadcasting rights.
That all adds up to a grave challenge for the International Cricket Council, which was so controversially reshaped in February to give the big three of India, England and Australia more power. But they have yet to make any public comment.
Relations between the West Indies players and their board have rarely been anything other than tense, with the latest flare-up over appearance money focusing on Wavell Hinds, an unremarkable former opener who is now the president and chief executive of the West Indies Players’ Association.
The players, led by the one-day captain, Dwayne Bravo, are said to be angry that Hinds accepted the terms offered by the WICB without consultation. That led to the dramatic announcement during the fourth match of their one-day series against India in Dharamsala on Friday that the squad would be heading straight home, without playing a scheduled Twenty20 international and three Tests. India are understood to be especially annoyed by an apparent assumption by the WICB that they would make up the shortfall.
Relations between the WICB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India had previously seemed cordial, evidenced by West Indies stepping in at short notice to provide the opposition for Sachin Tendulkar’s Test farewell in a hastily arranged series last year.
But Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, could not have been clearer in warning of the potential consequences now. “It will be very difficult to play West Indies in bilateral series in future,” he told Reuters. “They have to demonstrate the willingness that such situations never happen again. I would say that India’s next tour of West Indies is highly unlikely to go ahead in the current situation. Whatever the dispute, they should have honoured the bilateral agreement. We have suffered huge losses and the ICC is our parent body and we are going to ask them to ensure that this never happens in the future.”
Some of the greats of West Indies cricket will now be involved in the attempts to plot a course out of the mess. Richie Richardson is now the team manager and sent the email to the BCCI confirming the players’ decision, and Clive Lloyd was recently appointed chairman of selectors. Lloyd began the process of damage limitation in India, apologising and describing the decision of the players as “a mistake”. “We have great affection and love for Indian people and I hope that this will not affect our future relations,” the chairman of selectors said. “I hope the damage is not irreparable.” The WICB is to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday.