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Georgetown: Leading West Indies cricketers such as Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul must play in a Guyana tournament next month to qualify for future national selection, a top official said on Wednesday.
Chetram Singh, president of the Guyana Cricket Board, said the star players must suit up for the limited-overs tournament in Guyana beginning on October 27 or be deemed ineligible for upcoming series, including tours of Australia in November-December and next February.
"The players must play in Guyana or they will not be picked for any tours," Singh said.
His comments came a day after mediation to resolve the contract dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and senior players collapsed.
Singh, a member of the WICB, blamed the players for the failure. The mediator, former Commonwealth general secretary Shridath Ramphal, said a deal was close on Monday until one of the sides introduced a new document, without elaborating.
But Caribbean Community chairman and Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo said it was the WICB which tabled the new document and killed the talks.
Arbitration apparently was the next step in the months-long dispute, but Ramphal and Jagdeo were fearful for the future of West Indies cricket.
The leading players boycotted the home tests against Bangladesh in July and watched their replacements be swept aside in the tests and One-dayers.
Gayle and Co ended their strike before the one-day series and made themselves available, but the WICB said they were ineligible because they would not sign contracts for the series, and therefore also ineligible for the Champions Trophy in South Africa this month.
