T&T players agree to play in CLT20

Port-of-Spain: Trinidad & Tobago players, who had initially threatening to pull out of the Champions League over a monetary dispute with their board, have departed for South Africa to participate in the twenty20 competition after some last-minute negotiations.

"The players from T&T have decided to travel to South Africa," TTCB chief executive, Suruj Ragoonath told ESPNcricinfo. "In the meantime, the TTCB and WIPA, who have good relations, continue discussions on the matter." Five T&T players -- Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons and Samuel Badree -- who are currently in Sri Lanka representing the West Indies at the ICC World Twenty20 had asked West Indies Players Association (WIPA) to demand more money on their behalf for the trip. The players demanded that the TTCB give them a share of the transfer fee they got for Indian Premier League (IPL) players Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard, who would be representing their respective IPL teams. The TTCB got USD 150,000 for each of the three players. The situation worsened further yesterday when ten other members of the T&T squad also refused to travel to South Africa on their scheduled flight unless the demands were met. With problem arising just six days before T&T`s first match in the qualifying stage of the tournamnet, TTCB were left in a lurch. The TTCB said each player on the 15-man squad is guaranteed a payment of more than USD 20,000 for the two qualifying matches and in case the team advanced to the main round, an additional USD 200,000 would be paid before taxes. It was also reported that 75 per cent of the monies and any other prize money won by the team will be shared among them. That, however, could not convince the players. Thus, the TTCB reportedly asked the selectors to appoint five replacements. It also contacted WICB (West Indies Cricket Board) officials and informed them about the development. PTI