Stung by its scathing criticism, West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has hit back at Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding, saying their remarks were "unfortunate" and "misleading".
Stung by its scathing criticism, West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has hit back at Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding, saying their remarks were "unfortunate" and "misleading".
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Reacting to the tussle between WIPA and WICA over the players' contract, Lloyd had said that WIPA was "not trying to achieve anything but strengthen their bank balance and also termed the players as "greedy".
Holding had wondered if some WIPA officials were "trying to settle personal grouses with the board".
"Mr Lloyd's condemnation of WIPA .... is, in the view of WIPA, most unfortunate, wrong and misleading," WIPA said in a statement on its website.
"It maybe that the former West Indies cricket captain is unaware of the multifarious activities in which WIPA has been engaged to prepare players for "a life after cricket, WIPA said in a statement. WIPA also said that the current players were better than Lloyd and his teammates as they at least didn't join any rebel league, unlike the former skipper who along with others had joined the Kerry Packer's rebel World Series Cricket (WSC).
"The reports of that time of upheaval in West Indies cricket indicate that Clive Lloyd, as West Indies captain, played a pivotal role in influencing other West Indian players like Michael Holding, Deryck Murray and Joel Garner to join him in the WSC," the statement said.
"Unlike the IPL in which Chris Gayle and others are involved and which is recognised by the ICC, WSC was not sanctioned by this body.
"Lloyd and his team blazed the path for better remuneration for players by participating in the WSC. WIPA does not think that Mr Lloyd and others did so for greed," the statement added.
The row between WIPA and the board worsened when thirteen senior West Indian players went on a strike over their contract, boycotting the Test series against Bangladesh earlier this month.
The strike ended last week after an arbitrator was appointed to resolve the impasse through mediation and the players made themselves available for international selection.
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