WICB confirms tour withdrawal

UPDATE

The West Indies Cricket Board eventually confirmed late Friday that the team's tour of India had been abandoned following a pay dispute with their players.

As India won the fourth of what were supposed to be five one-day internationals by 59 runs in Dharamsala, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said that, despite West Indian denials, the tour was over.

However, the WICB insisted during the course of Friday's match, that no decision had been taken to call off the tour.

Nevertheless, the WICB added a further statement would be made at the end of the match.

Several hours later, following a teleconference, the WICB issued a statement from their headquarters in St John's, Antigua, blaming their players for the collapse of the tour.

"The WICB clarifies that players in the West Indies Squad currently in India represented by Mr Dwayne Bravo (one-day captain) indicated to the WICB through the West Indies Team Management that the players have taken a decision to withdraw their services for the remainder of the tour of India," the WICB's latest statement said.

It also said sending in a batch of fresh players to carry on the tour in place of the originally selected squad was not an option.

"The WICB wishes to further clarify that its proposed alternative arrangement of a replacement West Indies team was not considered acceptable. The WICB is understanding of this position."

In the course of a 10-point statement, the WICB said it would hold an emergency board meeting in Barbados on Tuesday to "conduct a thorough assessment of all the ramifications of the premature end to the tour", with a media conference after that meeting.

Significantly, the sixth point of the WICB's statement said they had warned Indian authorities the tour was "under a cloud of uncertainty from the inception" as a result of "postulations" by the players.

At Friday's post-match presentation ceremony, Bravo said:. "It's been tough for us on tour... Everyone is sticking together, despite what's going on.

"We look forward to representing the West Indies again some time soon."

The BCCI, meanwhile, announced it had finalised a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka between November 1 and 15 to replace the cancelled tour, with the exact schedule and venues to be announced at a later date.

EARLIER

The West Indies players have dramatically called off their tour of India, cancelling the fifth one-day international and three-Test series because of a pay dispute with their board.

The BCCI confirmed that West Indies team manager Richie Richardson had emailed to say the team would be returning home after Friday's fourth ODI in Dharamsala.

The cancellation is a dramatic escalation of the pay dispute between the West Indies Players Association and the West Indies Cricket Board.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Sanjay Patel said he would not rule out legal action over the tour cancellation.

"The BCCI is shocked and extremely disappointed at the decision taken by the WICB," Patel said in a statement issued by the BCCI.

"The WICB’s inability to resolve internal issues with its players and allowing the same to affect an ongoing bilateral series does not reflect well on any of those involved. The withdrawal gives little thought to the future of the game, the players and the long standing relations between the BCCI and the WICB.

"The BCCI wishes to inform all its stakeholders, especially ardent fans of the Indian cricket team, that this is a unilateral decision taken by the WICB and its players, in spite of several appeals to the WICB to honour its commitment and complete the series.

"The BCCI will pursue all options available to protect its rights, whilst seeking appropriate action from the ICC to ensure that its interests and those of the game at large will not suffer any damage due to such acts of indiscretion."