West Indies cricket players returned to work on Tuesday under an agreement that saw former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal, appointed mediator in their bitter pay dispute.

One day after Bangladesh players completed a two-Test series sweep of the West Indies for their first overseas series triumph, West Indies players agreed to resume representing the region.

Players have been fighting the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over pay but returned after the appointment of Ramphal at a meeting convened by Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo, at the request of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

Jagdeo is the current chairman of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom).

“It was agreed that, in light of the mediation agreement the parties expect to lead to the resolution of outstanding issues, all the players will make themselves available for selection,” they said in a joint statement.

WIPA and WICB have also agreed to each nominate a facilitator to assist Ramphal in his work.

“The mediation team, with assistance from the Caricom secretariat, would begin work immediately,” they said in the statement.

“Both parties have taken this step, mindful of the interest of their respective organisations but conscious also of their wider responsibility to the people of the West Indies and the international sport of cricket,” the organisations added.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by WIPA President Dinanath Ramnarine and WICB President Dr. Julian Hunte in the presence of the Guyanese leader.

The latest dispute erupted two weeks ago, when 13 of the leading players made themselves unavailable for the first test against Bangladesh in St. Vincent, citing pay and contract issues.

Except for Haiti and Surinam, the remainder of Caricom member nations are former British colonies and international cricket-playing nations from which the West Indies team is drawn.

England captain Andrew Strauss on Tuesday returned to the top-20 of the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen after leading his side to victory in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s with a hundred in the first innings.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who also achieved some personal landmarks this week such as crossing the 5,000-run mark and scoring his 18th Test century during the match, has gained seven places in the latest rankings and now occupies 14th position.

Strauss’s team-mate Kevin Pietersen slipped out of the top-10 following the second Test, allowing South African Jacques Kallis to be back in the rankings, which is still headed by India’s Gautam Gambhir, followed by Younis Khan of Pakistan in second place and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara in the third.

Australian Michael Clarke’s heroics in the second innings have been recognised in the latest rankings as he gained two places to sixth position, overtaking his captain Ricky Ponting in the process.

Strauss’s opening partner Alastair Cook has gained three places in the rankings and has returned to the top 20 at the expense of Australia’s Michael Hussey who dropped to 22nd place.

Another Australian to suffer in the latest rankings is opening batsman Simon Katich who loses three places to 17th position, level with VVS Laxman of India.

Further down the batting list, it has been a good week for Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, who scored an unbeaten 96 in the second innings leading his side to victory by four wickets over the West Indies in Grenada. Shakib has gained 13 places in the batting rankings and now sits in 43rd position.

Shakib’s bowling performance in the match has also pushed him into the top five of the Rankings for Test all-rounders. The 22-year-old took match figures of 8-129 and jumps seven places to fourth in the table.

Kallis still leads the all-rounders’ list with Mitchell Johnson of Australia second and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori third.

On the bowling front, England’s Andrew Flintoff has leaped four places to 14th in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers following his man-of-the-match performance at Lord’s.

Having taken the new ball in the second innings, the big Lancastrian took 5-92 as England won by 115 runs giving him a welcome boost in the rankings.

Further down the list, West Indies’ young seamer Kemar Roach gained 20 places to 47th position after his efforts in Greneda. The 21-year-old took 6-42 in the first innings and he now has 13 wickets from just two matches in what is an excellent start to his Test career for the man from Barbados.

The bowling rankings are still led by South Africa’s Dale Steyn with Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka in second place and Johnson third.

September onwards, it’s going to be non-stop cricket for the Indian cricket team. Starting with the Sri Lankan tri-series to the 2010 
 
Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, it’s going to be one long journey. And keeping in mind the heavy workload the players are going to be subjected to, the selectors are chalking out plans to make optimum use of about 25 core players in the scheme of things.

To start with, thought is being given to the pace-bowling department which will be under the maximum stress. With only two genuine strike bowlers in the squad – Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma – the likes of Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra and others need nurturing too so that a healthy pool of pacers is maintained.

“Eighty five per cent of the core team will remain unchanged in the course of the season ahead of us. But some new faces will also be inducted to expose them to international challenges,” a source informed.

Former fast bowlers who spoke on Sunday had mixed opinions on the issue. “We have to use the fast bowlers intelligently. Ideally, we should have a camp for the bowlers separately and work on their technique. This is something which hasn’t happened,” former swing bowler Manoj Prabhakar said.

Talking about Ishant, Prabakhar pointed out: “Ishant has some problem with his action. He doesn’t know how to control his front arm. His wrist position is also affected by it. The team management should look into it.”

Another former pacer, Roger Binny had this observation: “If you are not fit then it will show in your bowling. Breaking down is part of the game. Fortunately, we are not short of fast bowlers,” Binny said.

He also made a point about Ishant: “In 2004, when I first saw him in a Ranji match, I was impressed with the way he swung the ball. But last year, when I saw him again in the Asia Cup in Pakistan, I thought he was bowling very quickly, but wasn’t swinging the ball. Zaheer is so effective because he swings the ball. He also uses his experiences very well.”

According to Madan Lal, former medium-pacer, the decision to rest bowlers should be left to the players themselves. “Players know their body best. In India, the problem is that no one is willing to sit out and take rest. Everyone wants to play and that is something which is next to impossible.”

“Nehra is the perfect example. While there was always a question mark over his fitness, I had faith on his ability. Now that he has made a comeback into the Indian team, it’s his fitness that has made all the difference,” Lal added.

The crisis is West Indies cricket is getting deeper every day with the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) demanding an apology from the country’s board.

Thirteen leading West Indies players, including captain Chris Gayle, have gone on strike and boycotted the first Test against Bangladesh over pending contract issues. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) struggled to get a second string side that lost the match.

The WICB has asked the rebel players to apologies or face non-selection for the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September.

In retaliation, the WIPA has send a strongly worded letter to the WICB and demanded apology for mismanagement in the affairs of the board, reports the Trinidad Guardian.

The letter was laced with sarcasm and said: “We apologies for demanding that our members play with a contract clearly outlining the terms and conditions.

“For insisting that all contracts be negotiated by WIPA prior to their being offered to the players.

“For asking the WICB to honour the agreement and pay the medical treatment when players sustain injuries.

“For asking that the WICB honour the 2007-2008 agreement and compensate the players who have been injured.

“For asking the WICB to deposit funds it had deducted from the players’ salaries and which it failed to pay to the Players Provident Fund Account (Pension Plan) for almost a year.

“For asking the WICB to reimburse players who sometimes have to purchase their own airline tickets while on duty for the West Indies.

“For not having training camps and specialist camps for the preparation of the team.

“For accepting to play in a series against England at a time of year when no other team has ever played.

“For asking that the WICB not sell players’ intellectual property and image rights without permission.”

The Players, the association said, “would be willing to apologies if the players had:

“Lost Five (5) million US Dollars in the sanctioning of a one-off international 20/20.

“Lost three (3) million US Dollars as a result of breach of agreement.

“Spent one (1) million US Dollars in the courts in London unsuccessfully defending a legal action.

“Had to defend several other claims for breach of contract, including one where the estimated loss of revenue is $500,000.00 US Dollars per year.

“Lost almost US $10 million dollars in almost one year for breach of agreements with third parties.”

“A perusal of the above should indicate from where the apology should come,” it added.

WIPA chief executive Dinanath Ramnarine said the striking players are united in their stance.

“Although they want to play, they’re not going to back down under this pressure,” he said.

WICB vice-president Dave Cameron said he was not aware of the latest development, but made it clear that any player who wanted to make himself available for the second Test would be considered for selection in the Champions Trophy.

“I cannot say if any of the players changed their minds they would be back into the team for the second Test,, but I think that they should be given a look at,” Cameron said.

West Indies players are to boycott the Test series against Bangladesh due to start on Thursday, the Caribbean team’s players’ union said on Tuesday.

But Julian Hunte, president of the West Indies Cricket Board said the first Test in St.Vincent would go ahead, although he refused to be drawn on whether they would select an alternative squad for the game.

The West Indies Players Association (WIPA) said it had attempted to hold talks in the past few days with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to resolve a number of issues.

“The players have requested me as President of WIPA, the players’ body, to inform the WICB, sponsors and the public that, regretfully, they cannot with immediate effect continue playing without any contracts with the WICB,” WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine said in a statement.

WICB president Hunte, however, said he still expected the series to go ahead.

“As far as we are concerned (there) will be a Test match on Thursday,” he said when contacted by telephone.

Hunte declined to comment on whether the WICB was now seeking to recruit an alternative team to replace those on strike.

“Goodness me, we can’t play a Test match without players. I can’t go beyond that,” he said, adding that he intended to release a statement about the game on Wednesday.

Media reports in the Caribbean said most players from the West Indies squad had returned to their homes and were not preparing as planned for Thursday’s game.

The union, which threatened strike action during England’s tour of the Caribbean in March, said the West Indies players have played the last four series without a contract.

In a lengthy statement, the WICB detailed the financial disputes between itself and the WIPA regarding payments for the tour of England in May, the Twenty20 World Cup and the recent four-match ODI series against India in the Caribbean.

All of those competitions were highlighted by WIPA as being at the centre of the dispute.

The WICB said as far as it was concerned negotiations were ongoing to resolve their issues, though the players, who met at the weekend, have clearly lost patience with their employers.

“The decision was taken that if the WICB did not meet with WIPA to resolve outstanding issues, the players would not make themselves available to participate in the upcoming series against Bangladesh,” the WIPA statement said.

“We have written to the WICB to meet on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th July, but unfortunately the WICB have not responded.”

Bangladesh are already in the Caribbean having played a warm-up game in Barbados against a West Indies A team.

Gautam Gambhir is country’s highest ranked Test batsman at number three and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, at sixth, is the highest placed Indian bowler in the latest ICC rankings issued on Thursday.

Gambhir, the Delhi left-hander with 847 rating points, is the only Indian to figure in the top 10 batsmen’s chart, followed by Sachin Tendulkar (13th), VVS Laxman (15th) and Virender Sehwag (20th).

In the bowlers’ chart, Harbhajan is the lone Indian in top 10, followed by Zaheer Khan (11th) and Ishant Sharma (20th).

In the team ranking, India (117 points) are placed third behind top ranked Australia (128) and South Africa (119).

Meanwhile Pakistan, currently sixth, will go into their three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting at Galle on Saturday targetting the fourth place, replacing the Lankans.

A 1-0 or 2-1 series win for Younus Khan’s side will be enough to put it on 105 ratings points alongside Sri Lanka but ahead of Kumar Sangakkara’s side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Personally, Younus, currently the number one batsman in this format, will be aiming to become the 25th batsman in history to reach the 900-point mark.

The 31-year-old right-handed batsman is just 20 points short of becoming the second Pakistan batsman after Mohammad Yousuf to achieve the rare distinction.

Apparently asserting his authority after Pakistan won the Twenty20 World Cup under him, Younus Khan said the captain and players mattered the most in the team’s performance and the coach and his support staff play a secondary role.

“I have played domestic cricket as well in Australia and England and the concept is the coach and others are there as a support staff to help out the players. But the decisions have to be made by the captain and he and the players have to perform for the team to win,” Younus said.

“The support staff is there to help the players and make things easier for players,” he added.

Younus made it clear he had no issues with vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq or former captain Shoaib Malik and other players as reported by the media.

“Every player has a different mentality and only those players are close who share the same mentality and interests. I had discussions with Misbah and other players when we planned for the matches. It is not correct to say I didn’t speak to Misbah for days.”

Younus attacked former chief selector Abdul Qadir for “not speaking the whole truth” when the legendary spinner said that he should not have been in the Twenty20 World Cup squad.

“I think one must be very honest with oneself. What Qadir has said I think he has not spoken the entire truth he has covered up a lot of things. He should have been more honest and forthrightt,” Younus said.

Qadir, after his resignation from the chief selector’s job, had said he would not have kept Younus and Shoaib Malik in Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Cup team.

Younus said Qadir’s remarks only spurred him to do well as he took it as a challenge.

“It only motivated me and the other players to do well and prove him wrong.”

He said everyone in the team and Pakistan board was well aware of his temperament and principles.

“I believe everyone should do what he is supposed to do. He should not interfere in anyone’s domain. The cricket board officials have their job, the selectors have there job and the players have their own job to do. As long as everyone sticks to his field there is no problem.”

He said he listened to advice from others but ultimately he takes his own decision.

“Everyone is there to offer advice but as a captain I am firm I take my own decision. In the past also only those captains have been successful who take their own decisions. My motto is listen to everyone but take a decision which you feel is the best,” he said.

Ahead of the ODI series against West Indies beginning on Friday, reports suggest that the Indian captain gave team members a dressing down.

Dhoni reportedly told his team members that everyone needs to be truthful about injuries or any other personal issues that could affect team’s performance.

The other issue Dhoni is said to have dealt with was related to players’ fatigue. He said that in case anyone felt tired and not 100 per cent fit, they should take rest in order to recuperate.

Dhoni has been forced to address these issues after the severe criticism that the Men in Blue faced after their performance in England.

“For me, it’s the team first and then the individuals and I’d hope it’s the same with everyone else in the group,” Dhoni is said to have stated. “If rest is the cure for an injury, a cricketer ought to opt for it rather than let fatigue or niggle become a major setback to him and to the team,” he reportedly said.

Also it came to light that several players went to England despite carrying injuries.

The Indian team physio had given the BCCI a report in this regard but the BCCI nevertheless selected players who were carrying injuries.

Dhoni must have been forced to address these issues because of what happened to his deputy Virender Sehwag in England. When the Delhi batsman arrived for the World T20, he was said to have only a shoulder niggle. However, he was found to have a Grade 1 tear following which he underwent a surgery.

“If anyone wants to take a break from the game, please let me know or the BCCI,” was what Dhoni said.

Dhoni did not spare the seniors in the team. “I would urge seniors to give more and more inputs for the betterment of the team,” stated Dhoni. He was referring to Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh who will be playing four ODIs against the West Indies. Alongside the warning to the seniors, Dhoni also urged juniors to take up more responsibility and chip in with their inputs.

Thirteen of the 28 players, who have been offered central contracts by the Pakistan Cricket Board, are reluctant to sign the deal in the backdrop of the ban on them from playing in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.

The players, many of them seniors, want to have a meeting with PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt on the financial terms offered to the players because of the changed circumstances.

“Among the leading players, Shoaib Akhar and Shoaib Malik have signed their contracts the rest are junior players or not regular members of the national side. But 13 of the players are reluctant to sign the contracts now,” one source said.

The source said the feeling among senior players including Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul was that the Board needed to support the players who would lose a lot financially because of the IPL ban.

“Some of the players also want the clauses dealing with players going abroad to play to be reviewed.”

The source said the players wanted the Board to offer a better contract in view of the changed scenario on the IPL.

When the contracts were offered to the players, Shoaib Malik was the captain and was consulted in the finalisation of the clauses but he has since been sacked and replaced by senior batsman Younis Khan.

The source said the players were now looking towards English county cricket and Australian Sheffield shield contracts after the ban on playing in the IPL to recover something financially.

“But they want the Board to remove any caps or conditions on players who are offered contracts by foreign teams.”

The Board has also formed a committee to review the contracts and see if any deserving players have been left out.

Pakistan’s chief selector Abdul Qadir has hinted that some of the under-performing senior players could be rested for the two-match Test series that begins in Karachi next month.

A former leg-spinner, Qadir, said Pakistani cricketers showed lack of spirit and commitment in their shocking 234-run defeat in the in the last match of the One-day series against Sri Lanka in Lahore last week.

As a result, national selectors are considering several changes in the team, he said, without naming the players likely to be axed.

Senior players like comeback fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, all-rounder Shahid Afridi and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal were among the biggest failures in the series against Sri Lanka.

Pakistani officials are giving the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka a lot of importance as it would serve as a dress rehearsal for Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka this July. Pakistan will play three-Tests and five One-dayers during the tour.

Qadir said all the leading players will be provided ample opportunities to prove their form and fitness ahead of the Test. He said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will stage two five-day selection matches in Karachi and Lahore.

Karachi will host the first Test from Feb 22 and the second in Lahore.