Subpoenas were served on president of the Board, Dr Julien Hunte, vice-president Dave Cameron, former CEO Dr Ernest Hilaire, chief financial officer Barry Thomas and directors Dr Allen Sammy and Baldath Mahabir both from T&T, to attend the trial, set to start on November 26 in Port-of-Spain.
WIPA has sued the WICB on behalf of Gayle and all rounder Dwayne Bravo for US$20 million for loss of income and reputation. The players’ body which has a healthy record in legal battles against the regional cricket administration is alleging that they denied the hurricane batsman ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOC) which they needed in order to participate in worldwide T20 tournaments.
The Guardian was reliably informed that Gayle and Bravo were denied NOCs in 2009 and 2010, and suffered loss of earnings, as well as damage to their reputation. Gayle, who initially played with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL could not re-sign for a second season after failing to obtain the NOC from the WICB.
Bravo suffered the same fate as a member of the Mumbai Indians. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) requires all overseas players to get NOCs from their respective boards in order to take part in the IPL. It is understood that while the players were denied NOCs by the region body, they were also not centrally contracted by the WICB, so they lost on both ends.
When the trial begins, Hunte will become the first sitting WICB president to appear before the court in a matter concerning the regional players and cricket administration. Just last week, the trial between the WICB and WIPA concerning the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ended in Port-of-Spain. Both parties will now have chance to present clauses to back up their respective cases.
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