West Indies trio may not get board okay for Big Bash

The three West Indies players - captain Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard - who have turned down central contracts in order to play domestic cricket overseas, may find themselves unable to play in Australia's Big Bash Twenty20 tournament. Recent statements from Ernest Hilaire, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive, and Michael Brown, Cricket Australia's acting head, suggest board clearance will be required for such events, and will not be automatically granted by the WICB.

Gayle and Pollard are contracted to Western Australia and South Australia respectively, while Bravo is reportedly interested in representing Victoria, as he did last year. However, the players need no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the WICB to be eligible for the event.

"There seems to be a thinking out there - and I'm not sure who has advised them - that they don't have to sign central contracts and they can still play wherever they want," WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire told the Trinidad Express. "The rules of international cricket do not exactly allow for this."

Brown said there was no way the cricketers would be allowed to participate in the Twenty20 tournament without getting permission from the WICB. "I would not see a situation where a player would be putting his position with his [home] board at risk without consent," Brown told the Age. "We will work through that and I will talk to the West Indies if needed. Our relationship [with international teams'] boards is fundamental.''

Last month Bravo and Pollard, followed by Gayle, turned down the one-year central contracts offered by the West Indies board. The contracts require the players to make themselves available for the West Indies team at all times, something the three players - all of whom have forged prominent careers in domestic Twenty20 competitions including the IPL - were reluctant to do.

Meanwhile Hilaire said the board has begun a discussion on how to "make all stakeholders happy" in the future, but cautioned that while the WICB has so far been liberal with issuing NOCs to players, it might be time to change that policy to safeguard the interests of West Indies cricket.

"It has been to our detriment. We gave an NOC to a player to play in the Big Bash; he got injured, and could not play for our one-day international team. We have also allowed players to arrive days before important matches and play for West Indies.

"We have allowed it to happen and the time has come not for us to say we are not supporting any player playing elsewhere, but to find the right arrangement and framework in which our interest is not compromised."