HENDRIKS... This impasse between players and the board cannot be allowed to go on

The moment he takes over as president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) this weekend, Trinidad & Tobago businessman Ken Gordon will have to set about resolving the dispute between players and administrators that has left West Indies cricket in disarray.

For president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Jackie Hendriks, who leaves today for the WICB's annual general meeting in St Maarten tomorrow and Sunday, the issue is as plain as day.

"This impasse between players and the board cannot be allowed to go on," he told the Observer.

"Things have to be sorted out because each one needs the other . I personally am very anxious to see that the players and the board entertain a certain amount of trust between each other. they are supposed to be aiming towards the same end. It seems to me to be very, very unfortunate that things should have got to this point," he added.

The bitter, drawn-out dispute over sponsorship and contracts, between the WICB and the players union, the Dinanath Ramnarine-led West Indies Players Association (WIPA) took a turn for the worse when the WICB opted to omit most of its top players - not least champion batsman Brian Lara - from the current tour of Sri Lanka following the failure to agree terms.

In the midst of the row, outgoing WICB president Teddy Griffith announced his decision to demit office. Gordon is the only nominee as Griffith's replacement.

Hendriks, whose association joined the rest of the region in throwing its weight behind Gordon after the withdrawal of Jamaica's first choice, ex WICB president Pat Rousseau, is reassured by Gordon's record.

"Mr Ken Gordon is someone who has been in the business world for many years and is a good administrator. We hope that he can assist in the restoration and correction of the situation in West Indies cricket," he said.

"What we need is direction. We need to be able to have a compatible situation between players and the board. I certainly am very uncomfortable with the way that things have gone and I would like to know that our West Indies players are at one with the board and the board at one with them.

"That is how I look at it. As an ex-player I have a certain affinity for the players and therefore it hurts me very deeply to know that this impasse exists. And I think everything possible must be done to patch up things and try and turn over and start a new page," said Hendriks, who kept wicket for the West Indies in the 1960s and is considered by many to be the top Windies 'glove man' of all time.

Resolution of the dispute apart, Hendriks is hoping Gordon will help to return the WICB's operations to profitability.

"I don't think it's any secret that the West Indies board is in quite a dilemma where finance is concerned and one is hopeful that with his (Gordon's) contacts in business and so on that he can turn things around ." said Hendriks.

"Obviously, without money the board can't assist the territories... all the territories have been the recipients of development funds which we use for our camps and our training programmes and so on. This year they (WICB) have cut if off completely because they just don't have the money," he added.

Largely in the interest of maintaining "continuity" with the 2007 World Cup less than two years away, Hendriks says the JCA is supporting the return of incumbent vice-president, Anguillan Val Banks as Gordon's second in command. This, despite the fact that the high profile former West Indies' captain Clive Lloyd is bidding for the job, having failed to gain support for his initial interest in the presidency.

"I think it is very difficult for a new president to have as his vice-president someone who is also new, someone who has had no previous experience in the running of the cricket board and how it operates...

"I don't think it is sensible to have two new people coming in at the top... I don't think that we need that sort of clean sweep at the top. We need some continuity," said Hendriks.

He also suggested that Lloyd's status as a non-resident West Indian - the former West Indies captain has lived in Britain for decades - was also a concern.

"For me it is very difficult (to support) someone who has not lived in the West Indies for umpteen years and who has not really had any background of what is going on in the cricket board," the JCA president said.

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