Peace breaks out in the Caribbean

It looks like the days of rumblings and grumbling are over. At least for the time being.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) appear to be on the same page when it comes to contracts for players. In a brief conversation yesterday, Dinanath Ramnarine, president of the WIPA, told SunSport his organisation was satisfied with the pace of negotiations with the WICB as they look towards new retainer contracts. The last contracts expired at the end of last month.

"We are working on new retainers and I can report that at the moment there are no major issues," Ramnarine said. "We are satisfied with the way things are going and we remain optimistic." Efforts to get a reaction from Barry Thomas, the WICB's acting chief executive, were unsuccessful.

In recent years, the players and their employer have been embroiled in a number of embarrassing public stand-offs which led on some occasions to the players withdrawing their services.

However, since assuming the post of WICB president, Julian Hunte has struck a conciliatory note with WIPA. He appointed Ramnarine as a non-executive member of the board, so that WIPA, according to him, "can now be part of the solution instead of continuing to be perceived as part of the problem". Hunte has also gone beyond Ramnarine's formal appointment to bonding with the players themselves.

The West Indies have a long list of assignments in the coming months. Next month they are expected in Zimbabwe for a series of one-day matches. They will play three Tests and three ODIs in South Africa between December and February. The Tests will be at Port Elizabeth (December 26 to 30), Cape Town (January 2 to 6) and Durban (January 10 to 14).

The West Indies will host Australia and Sri Lanka between March and June, but the various boards have not outlined the itineraries as yet.