No West Indies tour a 'disaster' - AB

Proteas One-Day captain AB de Villiers says it would be a "disaster" if the West Indies end-of-year tour to South Africa was cancelled. Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Proteas One-Day captain AB de Villiers says it would be a "disaster" if the West Indies end-of-year tour to South Africa was cancelled. Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Published Oct 21, 2014

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Tauranga – Proteas One-Day captain AB de Villiers says it would be a “disaster” if South Africa’s international season is curtailed like last season, because of the on-going spat between the West Indies players, their Board and players association.

De Villiers admitted not being totally up to speed with the entire situation following the West Indies’ decision to abandon their tour of India in protest following a dispute between the team and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between WIPA and the West Indies Cricket Board.

The West Indies’ next tour is due to be to South Africa in December, encompassing three Tests, three T20s and five One-Day Internationals, and reports out of the Caribbean suggest that the tour could be in real danger of either not happening or of the WICB sending a second-string team if the current impasse is not resolved.

Last season, India shortened their tour to South Africa playing just two Tests and three ODIs, with the popular New Year’s Test at Newlands among the matches being cancelled. Asked about the chances of the West Indies tour being curtailed, De Villiers replied: “That would be a disaster, we want to play cricket. It’s not in our control, it’s out of our hands. Hopefully, whoever is in control makes the right decisions and the players can get on the park and play some cricket. It would be really, really bad for cricket if games don’t happen like it should. We all want to play and I’m sure the West Indies players want to play as well and hopefully they can sort it out as soon as possible.”

Negotiations are currently under way between the WICB, WIPA and the players. It appears that the players in the team were not consulted about the terms of the MoU and that despite voicing their concerns prior to touring India, they were ignored.

Reports in India have suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India could seek to claim damages of up to $65 million as a result of the tour being abandoned. - The Star

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