JCA moves to quell Baugh-Melbourne tiff
THE Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) is eager to settle the “domestic issue” between West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Carlton Baugh and his club team, Melbourne CC, after he was ruled out of the national 14-man squad for the regional Twenty20 (T20) tournament.
Baugh, 30, did not play for Melbourne in the recently-concluded JAM T20 local cricket competition, which meant he was not considered for selection as per the guidelines of the JCA.
The secretary of the JCA, Fritz Harris, told the Jamaica Observer that a meeting is expected to be held tomorrow to solve the simmering dispute between the club and the player.
“This matter benefits no one if it remains unresolved, so we want to correct it as quickly as possible. It’s a domestic issue… the player officially wrote to the JCA and Melbourne is an affiliate, so we’re involved. We have expectations that the matter will not go beyond this meeting,” Harris said on Friday.
When contacted by the Sunday Observer, Baugh expressed a willingness to meet with the relevant parties, but said he did not want to go public about the details of the differences between himself and the club until after the meeting.
Melbourne’s club president Neville Atkinson also opted not to comment on the reasons for Baugh’s absence from the JAM T20 when this newspaper spoke to him earlier this week.
However, the Sunday Observer understands that Baugh and Melbourne have had an uneasy relationship since he failed to show for Melbourne’s JAM T20 semi-final match last season.
It is reported that the wicketkeeper was initially dissatisfied with the subsequent penalty handed out by Melbourne’s disciplinary committee, but that issue appeared to have been resolved following an informal meeting involving representatives from the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), the club’s executive and the JCA.
It is reported, however, that the diminutive gloveman turned up for his club on the day of a match this season only to be told that he was not in the squad selected, and it is understood that that may have caused a new rift.
The experienced Baugh has represented the West Indies in 21 Tests, as well as in 47 One-Day and three T20 Internationals.
The Caribbean T20 is scheduled to be jointly held in Trinidad & Tobago and St Lucia next January.
