FORMER West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has won a claim against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and is set to be awarded US$161 000.The incident is rooted in a 2010 encounter between Sarwan and then chief executive officer of the WICB Ernest Hilaire. According to evidence presented in court Hilaire wrote a letter to Sarwan following the series against Australia, which questioned the players overall fitness and approach.
Sarwan had been injured in the first Test and had played the series with an injury.
“While this letter is not intended to highlight specific incidents, we hope that you take our concern as a statement of our desire for a higher level of commitment and application from you as a contracted player and a member of the West Indies cricket team,†the document stated.
According to reports when the player called Hilaire to clarify the contents of the document he did not receive a valid response.
“Dr Hilaire still refused to let Mr Sarwan know what he meant by his words in his letter and, further, stated that ‘if I don’t change my attitude, my career would end’, and then he hung up the phone,†said Seenath Jairam the arbitrator, in his final judgement.
The ruling stated that Sarwan’s claim of having suffered “loss and damage†had been accepted and the batsman had been “denigrated†because the WICB was not transparent and had committed various branches of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the player. (Sportsmax.com)