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Caribbean Times 31st Issue - Tuesday 8th November 2016

Caribbean Times 31st Issue - Tuesday 8th November 2016

Caribbean Times 31st Issue - Tuesday 8th November 2016

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16 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g<br />

<strong>Tuesday</strong> <strong>8th</strong> <strong>November</strong> <strong>2016</strong><br />

Pollard barred from Ram Slam<br />

as WICB imposes NOC levy<br />

Kieron Pollard, the West Indies allrounder,<br />

has been denied a No-Objection<br />

Certificate to compete in South Africa’s<br />

Ram Slam T20 Challenge, after the West<br />

Indies Cricket Board made the unprecedented<br />

move of levying 20% of the contract<br />

fee on any <strong>Caribbean</strong> player wishing<br />

to participate in an overseas T20 tournament.<br />

Pollard, who signed a two-year contract<br />

last season with Cape Cobras, was informed<br />

of the WICB decision on <strong>November</strong><br />

3 by the board’s chief executive officer<br />

Michael Muirhead in an emailed letter. He<br />

is currently still in Trinidad, with the tournament<br />

due to get underway on <strong>November</strong><br />

11.<br />

Muirhead called the move a “policy”<br />

decision, taken by the WICB board of directors.<br />

He also said that the WICB had<br />

notified all the ICC Full Member boards of<br />

this decision.<br />

“The WICB will levy a charge for<br />

the granting of an NOC for West Indian<br />

cricketers seeking a release to participate<br />

in Leagues outside the jurisdiction of the<br />

West Indies,” Muirhead informed Pollard<br />

in the email, which has been accessed by<br />

ESPNcricinfo. “This will be an amount<br />

equivalent to 20% of the player fee (as defined<br />

in the player contract) that is actually<br />

paid to the relevant player.”<br />

Pollard was told he would not be granted<br />

the NOC until the WICB had received<br />

“acceptance of our position” from the various<br />

boards which feature <strong>Caribbean</strong> players<br />

in their domestic T20 tournaments.<br />

It is understood that the Bangladesh<br />

Cricket Board is considering a 10% payment,<br />

but might ask the BPL franchises to<br />

carry out such a payment. Cricket South<br />

Africa has rejected the WICB proposal<br />

while there has been no response as yet<br />

from the Pakistan Cricket Board and Cricket<br />

Australia.<br />

The Federation of International Players’<br />

Association (FICA) has described the<br />

WICB decision as “restraint of trade” and<br />

warned that it could attract legal challeng-<br />

Kieron Pollard has been denied a No-Objection<br />

Certificate to compete in South Africa’s<br />

Ram Slam T20 Challenge.<br />

es.<br />

Muirhead argued that a release fee was<br />

necessary given how many <strong>Caribbean</strong><br />

players are now seeking to maximise their<br />

earnings in the various T20 tournaments<br />

around the world.<br />

“WICB however, having invested in<br />

developing a player’s talent, is not able<br />

to realise a return on its investment if the<br />

player is not available to play in local tournament,<br />

which would allow lesser experienced<br />

players the opportunity to face a<br />

more experienced and skilled opposition,<br />

thereby improving on the standard and<br />

competitiveness of the domestic tournaments,”<br />

he wrote.<br />

However, the move comes as little surprise<br />

to seasoned observers of the current<br />

WICB administration. The board has consistently<br />

said that senior players who earn<br />

big money in the T20 leagues need to compromise<br />

and give back something to the<br />

regional cricket. Otherwise, as Muirhead<br />

noted to Pollard, it “disadvantages” the<br />

West Indies team.<br />

“In the end, it compromises the standard<br />

of the WICB’s international team<br />

and that team’s performance internationally.<br />

The primacy of international cricket is<br />

threatened.”<br />

Muirhead stated in his email that the<br />

WICB move could not be called as restraint<br />

of trade. “While we do not wish to act in<br />

restraint of trade, we must seek a balance<br />

to ensure that there is fair and adequate<br />

compensation for the investment made in<br />

the players,” he wrote. “What WICB seeks<br />

is some compensation to recognise the investment<br />

made into players, an investment<br />

from which another Full Member is benefitting.”<br />

Although Pollard is the only player officially<br />

contacted by WICB so far, many<br />

other <strong>Caribbean</strong> players are predicting a<br />

similar email in their inbox at some point<br />

in the near future.<br />

Muirhead said the board could put the<br />

fees collected for an NOC from various<br />

players into a pot which then could be redistributed<br />

as contracts to players who only<br />

play T20. Pollard, along with the former<br />

West Indies captain Darren Sammy, are<br />

some of the prominent voices who have<br />

asked WICB to offer them T20 contracts.<br />

“It is our expectation too, that the accumulation<br />

of these fees will facilitate the offer<br />

of contracts to players participating only<br />

in the short format of the game,” Muirhead<br />

said.<br />

Pollard, however, is not even a contracted<br />

WICB player, having been controversially<br />

dropped for the tri-series in Zimbabwe,<br />

scheduled for later this month. And<br />

for that reason, Tony Irish, the FICA chairman,<br />

believes that the move is unjustified.<br />

“We have made it very clear to all<br />

the boards that any restrictions placed on<br />

players are likely to constitute restraint of<br />

trade and there challengeable legally,” he<br />

said. “In the case of Kieron, he is not even<br />

contracted by the WICB. Therefore their<br />

attempt to levy 20% in exchange for the<br />

NOC effectively imposes a restriction on<br />

freedom of movement.”<br />

Irish called the decision arbitrary, considering<br />

the WICB had not even discussed<br />

the move with players and the other boards.<br />

He added that he will be speaking directly<br />

to the WICB on <strong>Tuesday</strong> about a decision<br />

that looks set to prevent Pollard from fulfilling<br />

his second year of the contract with<br />

the Cobras.<br />

“It is not a good situation. I will be takcont’d<br />

on pg 15

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