By Colin Croft Former West Indies fast bowler

At no time in the 77 years of West Indies' involvement in international cricket has such a mess been experienced as now.

The contracts row between West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Players Association (Wipa) has descended into a fiasco.

Gaye has just signed a deal with Sony-Ericsson, a partner of Digicel

West Indies' people, and those who support other teams but who have come to be great admirers of West Indies cricket, are fed up with the continuing impasse of the WICB and Wipa.

The apathy felt by West Indies cricket supporters has now become real anger, especially with the 2007 Cricket World Cup on the horizon.

And the way forward could be very rocky, regardless of what is agreed on.

It could take at least another 77 years for any trust to be restored between the WICB and the players again.

What is incomprehensible is that the WICB, after the first Test against South Africa last March, when most of the senior players chose not to play, still expected these same players to agree to the same clauses, with some manipulative prose, that had caused problems back then.

Does the WICB really disrespect the players that much?

Or has the WICB painted itself so much into a corner with the recent sponsorship deals with Digicel that no matter what corrective measures are taken, there is no real way out of this mess?

Story: West Indies look to A team players

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle have just signed lucrative personal endorsement contracts with Sony-Ericsson, a partner of Digicel.

This is a move similar to the situation which brought about the very pubic fight between Cable & Wireless, Digicel, the WICB and Wipa.

It is not helpful to the WICB that Brian Lara's ongoing contract with Cable & Wireless continues.

But from the players' point of view, they are simply looking after themselves because there are no central contracts.

One has to wonder why, after consenting to an appointed arbitrator, the WICB hesitated in agreeing to be bound by his findings.

Lara's contract with Cable & Wireless is ongoing

Wipa has at least publicly accepted that "they would abide with any of the findings and rulings of the arbitrator, Mr Justice Saunders".

For the WICB to have dispatched its senior team manager Tony Howard to Sri Lanka to try to get the A team players to fill in as replacements for the Test series was a truly inept move.

Does the WICB and Howard expect the A team players to accept whatever terms the senior team manager had to offer?

Have Your Say on TMS How can the West Indies move forward?

And with reports just two A team players have accepted the offer, at the moment it seems only five players are now willing to play for the West Indies at any cost.

The damage this continuing situation is doing to West Indies cricket is irreparable.

With Wipa expanding into the ranks of Under-15 youth cricket, it should be recognised it will not simply disappear.

Sri Lanka Cricket too has become very concerned.

No-one will go to see a team minus Lara, Sarwan and Gayle. SLC could be snookered here.

The tour will be a flop if the WICB selects an alternate team, which SLC is at pains to avoid as it will be the first tour there since the tsunami disaster.

If the WICB does not send a team at all, then they stand to be fined US$2 million by the ICC, a sum it surely does not have to waste.

One wonders where the WICB expects to find another 15 players, given that most of the senior team and the A team, about 30 players, are already saying no.

Maybe the WICB intends to call back players of yesteryear!