by ANDRE BAPTISTE There is money in West Indies cricket. Despite the best efforts of past and current West Indian players to hide their salaries, the facts are representing the West Indies in Cricket will earn a player a competitive salary. According to information I've seen, the most senior players in the West Indies Team, including Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul can earn a minimum of US$7,500 per Test with the captain collection an additional US$600 on top of his match fee. The players in the top payment bracket are: Lara (112 Tests and 244 ODIs), Chanderpaul (80 tests and 161 ODIs), Sarwan (50 Tests and 73 ODIs), Gayle ( 47 Tests and 106 ODIs), Wavell Hinds (38 Tests and 87 ODIs), Merv Dillon (38 Tests and 104 ODIs), Darren Ganga (30 Tests and 28 ODIs) Marlon Samuels ( 19 tests and 53 one dayers), Corey Collymore ( 14 tests and 56 one dayers) and Ricardo Powell ( 2 tests and 102 ODIs) Players like Sarwan and Gayle can earn as much as US$6,000 per Test. In one-day cricket, Lara earns US$2,500 per match while Chanderpaul (US$2,000), Sarwan (US$1,500 US), Gayle (US$1,750), Hinds (US$1,500), Dillon (US$1,750) and Marlon Samuels (US$1,500) all rake in the big bucks. Even relative newcomers like Dwayne Bravo (4 tests and 19 one dayers) are doing well, collecting US$3,500 per Test and US$1,000 for an ODI match. The match fees listed above does not include the incentives given for winning and bonus payments offered by sponsors such as Digicel, who have given the West Indian players as a group a chance to earn US$1.7 million in a calendar year if they defeat any of the top four ranked teams in a one-day series or Test series. Additionally, while playing in the Caribbean, West Indian cricketers do not pay any tax. The West Indies played 16 Tests and 31 one day internationals between October 2003 to September 2004. Player Match Fee (Tests): 1–20 Tests: $3,500 to $4,000 21-40 Tests:$5,000 41-60 Tests: $6,000 to $6,500 61-80 Tests: $7,000 Over 80 Tests: $7,500 to $8,000 The team captain earns an additional US$600 per match. Player Match Fee (ODIs): 1-40 matches: $1,000 41-100 matches: $1,500 101-150 matches: $1,750 151-200 matches: $2,000 201-250 matches: $2,500 251-300 matches: $3,000.00 All figures are U.S. dollars. Reprinted from Caribbeancricket.com