Barred Bravo told to delete 'big idiot' tweet

West Indies' leading Test batsman Darren Bravo has spoken out on his legal dispute with the Caribbean cricket board, saying he fears his efforts in international cricket have gone "down the drain".

Bravo hasn't played for the Windies since November after calling on Cricket West Indies chief executive Dave Cameron to resign and labelling him a "big idiot" in a row over player contracts.

The left-hander, far-and-away the Windies' leading Test run-scorer since his debut in 2010, had turned down a C-category contract, with Cameron insisting at the time Bravo's "poor" performances did not merit a higher pay grade.

Barred from international cricket, as well as from his regional side Trinidad and Tobago, Bravo and CWI have been locked in a legal spat ever since. 

Cameron last week said Bravo needs to delete his original "big idiot" tweet and admit he was in the wrong if he wants to return to international cricket.

"Let me make it very clear: what Darren Bravo has to do first and foremost is take down the tweet. Every day that tweet stays up, it is an infraction," Cameron told Caribbean television network Line and Length.

"Secondly, he needs to accept that he's done something wrong and then we can move forward from there.

"But we've decided as an organisation – it came up at the board meeting – (that) we'll put it to the disciplinary committee, let them have a look at it and determine if there is further action to be taken and how that will go. We'll move it from there."

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Bravo hit back this week on the same television program, suggesting "due process" hadn't been followed.

"At the end of the day, no one can prove that Darren Bravo actually went on his Twitter account and tweeted that," he said. 

"There was no due process. No one asked me any, anything. Up to this day no one has called me and asked me anything. So it has been very disappointing."

The 28-year-old has been a shining light for the struggling Windies in the Test arena in recent years. Since his debut six years ago, no West Indian has scored more than his 3400 Test runs.

And of Windies batsmen to score more than 1000 runs over that period, only the now-retired pair of Chris Gayle (54.86) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (59.14) hold superior batting averages to Bravo (40).

"I have a very important part to play in the quest to revitalise West Indies cricket in the longer format of the game," Bravo added. 

"I have given up so much for West Indies cricket and the way I have been treated is like, my efforts and my energy and my whatever went all down the drain. And I don't like the way I have been treated."

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Even if his dispute with the board is resolved in the coming months, Bravo said he's unlikely to feature on the Windies' next Test tour, a three-Test series in England beginning August.

"There's a question mark over that (England tour) because I've already signed my contract with CPL," Bravo said in reference to his deal with Caribbean Premier League T20 side Trinbago Knight Riders.

"I will be fulfilling my contract with CPL. And CPL is basically during the same time as the England tour so by all means, Darren Bravo will be playing in the CPL."

In February last year, Bravo opted to skip the ICC World T20 in order to play more first-class cricket in the Caribbean, with improvement as a Test batsman the end goal.

Darren Sammy, who captained the Windies to glory in that tournament, recently admitted he fears for what the future holds for cricket in the Caribbean.

"The way we structure our cricket, we're not going anywhere," Sammy told the BBC earlier this month. 

"I'm very scared we will be relegated to be playing against Ireland and Scotland. It's very sad for us. 

"If you really have West Indies cricket at heart you will have the right players for all the formats playing and helping you get to tournaments."