West Indies Players Sign Contracts

Any remaining speculation over the tour of South Africa was removed Tuesday when 14 of the 15 players selected for the Test series signed the controversial match/tour contracts.

In selecting the squad last week, the West Indies Cricket Board had given players a deadline of 5 pm on Tuesday, and the board confirmed they had received all but one of the signatures.

"The WICB thanks the players for their timely and positive responses and looks forward to a successful tour of South Africa," the WICB said in a statement.

In a surprise move, however, left-hander Darren Bravo will take no part in the tour after pulling out of the squad for "personal reasons".

The 25-year-old, the younger brother of one-day captain Dwayne Bravo, also played no role in Trinidad and Tobago Red Force’s first round match in the WICB Professional Cricket League last weekend against Barbados Pride.

In fact, he was left out of the squad named for the first two rounds, with selectors claiming the player had made himself unavailable since his returned from the troubled tour of India.

Bravo was a member of the West Indies one-day squad which took the controversial decision to quit the tour of India over a contracts row with their union, WIPA.

In recent years, Bravo has become a fixture in the Windies top order, and averages 43 from 32 Tests where he has compiled 2311 runs.

However, only last year, he also abruptly left the tour of New Zealand also for "personal reasons".

The board said it looked forward to his return.

"Darren Bravo wrote to Chairman of Selectors Clive Lloyd and requested not to be considered for the Test series due to personal reasons," the WICB statement said.

"The WICB extends its best wishes to Bravo as he seeks to address his personal matters and looks forward to his return to the game."
A replacement player is expected to be named soon.

Meanwhile, the players move to sign match tour contracts is a major development, which will now see the three-Test tour of South Africa proceed as planned next month.

The contracts were at the centre of the controversial abandoned tour last month, with players contending the new terms would have resulted in a significant reduction in their earnings.

Following a series of meetings between the WICB, WIPA and the players, it was decided the contract would go to arbitration.

West Indies will face South Africa in the first Test at SuperSport Park in Gauteng on December 17th.