Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, in his capacity as Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket, announced this afternoon that an adjudicator has been appointed by the Sub Committee to render a binding decision on the interpretation of Clause 1K of previous West Indies Cricket Board Match/tour contracts. Prime Minister Mitchell said Acting Chief Justice of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Supreme Court, Justice Adrian Saunders, has agreed to adjudicate in the matter. “I believe both the Board and the Players will be well served by the skills and expertise of Justice Adrian Saunders and I am pleased that he has agreed to adjudicate on this very important matter,” the Prime Minister said this afternoon. The appointment of Justice Saunders is in keeping with an agreement among the CARICOM Sub-Committee on Cricket, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA). On Friday, November 26, the Prime Minister convened separate meetings with delegations from the WICB and the WIPA, and then met with the two delegations jointly. It was agreed that the WICB and the WIPA would submit briefs by December 3 for the development of the Terms of Reference for the adjudicator. As a result of the successful intervention by Prime Minister Mitchell and the extensive discussions on Friday, the training camp which started in Barbados today was reopened to all originally invited players. Other matters agreed upon included the following: That WICB and WIPA will make their best efforts to make available to the adjudicator all relevant contracts. Both parties use their best endeavours to reach a negotiated settlement on Clause 5 of the new Match Tour Contract by December 15, 2004. WICB and WIPA should conclude the outstanding issues to establish a viable framework of agreements, including: The Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties The Collective Labour Agreement The Retainer Contracts The Match/Tour Contract Both parties agree to desist from making public statements prejudicial to the resolution of all issues. Source: Office of the Prime Minister