Ramnaresh Sarwan wins case against the West Indies Cricket Board

West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been awarded US $161,000 after winning a case against the West Indies Cricket Board over comments made about his fitness. The matter was is arbitration and the verdict had been given earlier this year in March. Yet the details of the ruling have emerged in the last week.

The seeds of the case were sown in 2010 when Ernest Hilaire, the chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board back then sent a note to Sarwan after the three-Test match series against Australia. The right-hander was injured in the first Test and played the other two with an injury. According to the note, the WICB felt that after a review of the tour, they felt that they were concerned with the “attitude and approach to fitness and physical preparation.”

According to the reports of cricketcounty, Hilaire had said, “While this letter is not intended to highlight specific incidents, we hope that you take our concern as a statement of our desire for a higher level of commitment and application from you as a contracted player and a member of the West Indies cricket team.”

It was also learnt that Sarwan had called Hilaire for clarification, and his testimony during the arbitration, but he mentioned Hilaire had not been forthcoming. “Dr. Hilaire still refused to let Mr. Sarwan know what he meant by his words in his letter and, further, stated that ‘if I don’t change my attitude, my career would end’, and then he hung up the phone,” said Seenath Jairam the arbitrator, in his final judgement.

As per the verdict, Jairam said that Sarwan’s claim of having suffered “loss and damage” had been accepted and the batsman had been “denigrated” because the WICB was not transparent and had committed various branches of their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the player. In reply, the WICB stated the verdict a “highly flawed ruling by the arbitrator.”

Ramnaresh Sarwan played his last Test back in 2011 against India. He had a successful career with the West Indies. Playing 87 Tests, he scored 5842 runs at an average of 40.12 which includes 15 centuries. His 291 against England was his highest score in his career.