THE WEST Indies cricket tour of Australia appears set to go ahead, after a tense meeting between the rivalling West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), brought the parties near a settlement of the contract dispute that flared up ahead of the team's recent training camp in Barbados. It was agreed that mediator Dr. Keith Mitchell would engage the parties and all concerned to ensure that any outstanding issues would not affect the Australian tour. Mitchell, the Grenada Prime Minister, reported late yesterday that talks were encouraging although he conceded that the parties had not concluded arrangements. "We had a very good meeting and both sides articulated the positions and we aided the process of a resolution to the matter," Dr. Mitchell said. "There are some final issues that they are working on but we are quite convinced that we will have a resolution that will allow the tour to proceed and the issues will be settled to the satisfaction of all concerned," Mitchell said as he emerged from the lengthy meeting. KEY ISSUES "The key issues that would have interfered with the successful implementation of the tour will be settled and agreed to by the parties," he added, while officials of WICB and WIPA remained inside the meeting room. Mitchell, in his capacity as chairman of the region's Prime Ministerial Cricket Committee, convened yesterday's meeting with the WIPA and WICB representatives and discussed the binding decision of independent arbitrator Justice Adrian Saunders on the interpretation of Clause 1K of previous WICB Match/Tour contracts and to secure the participation of the West Indies in the upcoming tour to Australia. Both parties, the WICB and the WIPA, accepted the binding decision of Justice Saunders with respect to Clause 1K of the WICB Match Tour Contract. Mitchell said both parties reported on the substantial progress made on outstanding issues. "Both parties were able to resolve most matters with respect to the Match/Tour Contract for the upcoming Australian tour," Mitchell said. Reprinted from jamaica-gleaner.com