Windies board sets fresh deadline for players to sign up or sign off

St John's, Antigua, Apr 23 (UNI) The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) today issued a fresh ultimatum to the country's cricketers for signing the retainer contracts being offered by it after a meeting with the Players Association President Dinanath Ramnarine failed to break the deadlock between the two sides.

The WICB has set a new deadline of April 25 after the players refused to sign the contracts by the earlier set date of April 21.

The board has also decided to hold another round of talks with West Indies Players Association (WIPA) on the same day.

In a statement issued today, the WICB said after the completion of the previous deadline the board had held negotiations with the WIPA to sort out the long pending dispute but the talks ended without any result ''A meeting was held on Friday evening between Mr. Deryck Murray of WICB and Mr. Dinanath Ramnarine of the WIPA. This meeting was inconclusive and a further session was arranged for Tuesday, April 25,'' the board statement said.

The board statement also said if things don't work out by the new deadline then the players would be sent the one-year contracts, which would have to be signed by May 3 and the failure to comply with the deadline would lead to immediate axing from the team.

''If arrangements are not finalized at that time, the WICB will issue retainer contracts to the selected players. These players will have until Wednesday, May 3 to sign their contracts. Where contracts are not signed, alternative players will be selected,'' the statement warned.

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