To say that Everton have endured a tough few years in the Premier League would be an understatement. The Toffees are no longer a side likely to appear in the comforts of mid-table, or cause a shock by competing for the European places. Instead, they find themselves surviving through late-season heroics and hanging onto their top flight status by a thread.

The bad news just keeps coming, even away from the pitch, with Everton's financial fair play investigation potentially leading to a 12-point deduction, arguably handing Sean Dyche's side an impossible mountain to climb when it comes to avoiding the drop. Their financial issues have left them vulnerable to player sales, too, ahead of the January transfer window.

Everton's FFP breach could force player sales

Everton are being investigated for breaching FFP rules, and whilst details remain unknown, it is believed to be related to a tax issue connected to loans for Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock. If found guilty, the Premier League has recommended that the Merseyside club are deducted as many as 12 points.

Given their financial issues, Everton could be forced to sell some important stars, including Amadou Onana, who said recently during international duty with Belgium: "I’m not going to say that it [international duty] is my main source of motivation because I take very seriously the task that I have with Everton, namely, to help the club to survive.

"But I must admit that this change in atmosphere and finding a team with high-quality players changes the mood. Mentally, it does me a lot of good. That was my goal at the start of the season. But like I said I don’t have a crystal ball. I am not able to tell you what will happen in the future."

Journalist Paul Brown, speaking to GiveMeSport, then had this to say after hearing Onana's words: "Hopefully, his development continues at the club and they don't need to sell him. But I do think he's one of three or four players who could be targeted, I think, by other clubs, and I do think Everton are vulnerable to a sale. They would probably look at that and think if they can generate enough profit from the sale of someone like Onana, they might have to do it."

A 12-point deduction would be disastrous enough for Everton, but if they lost certain players on top of that, then avoiding relegation may turn into nothing more than a pipe dream for Dyche and co.

Amadou Onana – Everton's best midfielder?

Onana's stats show exactly why Everton should be doing everything they can to keep hold of their midfielder. He could be crucial to their survival chances, and at 22-years-old, he'll only get even better at Goodison Park. Dyche will hope that the Belgian stays put until at least the end of the season to help ease any worries over finding a January replacement.

Player

Progressive Passes

Pass Completion Rate

Tackles Won

Blocks

Amadou Onana

44

82.9%

13

7

He has earned deserved praise during his short time at Goodison Park, including from former player Noel Whelan, who told Football Insider: “I think we saw why they brought him in to the football club – even in that short time on the field. He almost scored a goal himself; he got into a great position.

"He’s one player now that I don’t think Everton can afford to keep off the pitch for too long. I think they need these new signings to bed in very quickly. They can’t afford to wait around for him to adjust to the Premier League. He’s got to be on the field from the start in the next game.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O bom desempenho no Flamengo faz com que atletas rubro-negros despertem interesse de clubes europeus. É um cenário natural, mas não é o caso de Willian Arão e Gerson em relação ao Benfica. Em nota divulgada nesta quarta-feira, a diretoria do clube português reforçou que não há qualquer negociação em curso pelas contratações da dupla de volantes do Rubro-Negro da Gávea.

-Essa notícia é totalmente falsa e não tem qualquer fundamento – diz trecho da nota divulgada pelo Benfica, referindo à matéria veiculada no diário “Correio da Manhã”, de Portugal, sobre o interesse do clube português em Arão e Gerson.

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Liverpool emphatically ended the mini-quandary arising from two meek performances against Luton Town and Toulouse respectively with a statement Anfield victory over Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Jurgen Klopp revamped his midfield during the summer after the 2022/23 campaign yielded rotten results, and despite the industrial scale transfer work the seamless integration has been noted.

Finishing fifth last season and consequently missing out on the Champions League this year, Liverpool have been plying their trade in the Europa League, and while they top Group E after four matches, a chastening 3-2 defeat to Toulouse last week showed startling signs of last season's spiritlessness.

It's perhaps understandable that there will be bumps in the road, and given that the Reds are just one point behind league leaders Manchester City heading into the third international break of the term, there is cautious optimism that results can be sustained to mount another challenge for the title under Klopp's leadership.

And while the 3-0 win over Brentford was an impressive show of strength on home soil – maintaining the 100% record at Anfield since the summer – there were still areas for improvement that the club's German manager will seek to iron out over the coming period.

In fairness, there were multiple absences in midfield – Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones joined Spanish duo Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic in the injury room, while Alexis Mac Allister missed out due to suspension – which meant Wataru Endo's way was paved for a second Premier League start of the season, despite flattering to deceive in midweek.

Wataru Endo's game vs Brentford by numbers

Endo has been a bit of a mixed bag since arriving from Stuttgart for £16m in the summer, signed after the Reds failed to secure both Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo, who both opted to join Chelsea.

Due to the lack of options last weekend, Klopp handed the Japan star a starting berth and while he didn't struggle, per se, his lack of authority in defensive moments was clear to see.

As per Sofascore, the 30-year-old took 67 touches from the centre of the park, completing 86% of his passes and making four clearances to stifle Brentford's advances on the counter, but he won only one of his nine ground duels and did not evoke the confidence that a defensive midfielder should for a side of Liverpool's calibre, winning just one tackle and also being dribbled past twice.

Statistic

#

Appearances

7

Starts

2

Pass completion

86%

Key passes per game

0.0

Tackles per game

0.6

Recoveries per game

1.6

Interceptions per game

0.1

Clearances per game

1.1

Ground duels won

28%

*Sourced via Sofascore

Against TSC on Thursday night, Endo won none of his five contested ground duels, and for all his composure and industriousness it is clear why Klopp opts not to start him on the big occasions.

Cody Gakpo's performance vs Brentford

With multiple absences, Cody Gakpo was also placed in midfield, having started there across the opening two matches of the Premier League campaign against Chelsea and Bournemouth, struggling on both occasions.

Against Thomas Frank's Bees, he impressed in instances and demonstrated some of the attributes that prompted Klopp to recognise his worth in the middle, but he failed to influence the play as he would in an offensive position and should not be unleashed from deep when other options are at Klopp's disposal.

Testing Mark Flekken with a stinging shot in the first half, Gakpo was crisp in possession, energetic and hard-working, but once again he proved that his deployment in the position must be used as a last resort.

Indeed, despite completing 91% of his passes, winning four ground duels (44%) and succeeding with two dribbles, Gakpo failed to make a single key pass and only took 46 touches.

For comparison, Dominik Szoboszlai took 73 touches and completed two key passes, always looking a threat and starting promising passages of play.

Goal's Mark Doyle handed the Dutchman a 6/10 match rating despite the big win, writing: 'Once again started in midfield because of Liverpool's injury issues but while he worked hard, and had a couple of efforts from distance, he was once again largely ineffective in a deeper role. Subbed late on.'

While it was no detriment to the win, Klopp will no doubt be happy that key personnel in the middle will be back for the daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City in two weeks.

Where Cody Gakpo fits in at Liverpool

Gakpo perhaps gets a bit too much stick. He hasn't proved to be the most clinical of forces since completing a £35m transfer to the Anfield side last winter, but he's technically proficient and intelligent both in possession and without the ball.

With the likes of Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah wreaking havoc through their clinical exploits, might the £120k-per-week Gakpo's work be going under the radar?

He has scored four goals and supplied an assist from nine starts across all competitions this season, and, as per FBref, the dynamo also ranks among the top 20% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for shot-creating actions, the top 7% for progressive passes, the top 18% for progressive carries and successful take-ons, the top 1% for tackles and the top 8% for blocks per 90.

Once hailed as "something special" by Fabrizio Romano, the all-encompassing nature of his craft welcomes space and success for other attack-centric peers, but his best qualities have been negated on both occasions he has been fielded in the centre of the park this year.

Of course, Liverpool's list of midfield absentees last weekend precluded the possibility of easy squad selection, but with Harvey Elliott replacing the 19-cap international in the 83rd minute, there's an argument there that Klopp unleashed the wrong man in the centre.

Such claims could be thrown into the realm of the pedantic; Liverpool won, convincingly, against a disciplined team that was riding a three-match Premier League win streak, but it's something that Klopp will consider going forward.

The fast bowler is flying home to Barbados following the death of his grandmother and will rejoin the team in India after her funeral

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2018

AFP

Kemar Roach will return to Barbados following the death of his grandmother and will rejoin West Indies’ squad in India after her funeral. This means the fast bowler is likely to miss West Indies’ two-day tour match against the Board President’s XI in Vadodara. The match begins on September 29, and is West Indies’ only warm-up match before their two-Test series against India, which begins in Rajkot on October 4.Roach, as a result, could go into the first Test without any recent long-format match practice; his last red-ball match was the first Test against Bangladesh in Antigua in the first week of July. He took five wickets in the first innings of that Test match, but also picked up a hamstring injury and was rested for the second Test in Jamaica.Since then, Roach’s only top-level cricket has been a pair of T20 games for Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League in August.The 30-year-old Roach is the most experienced of the five fast bowlers in West Indies’ squad, having played 48 Tests since his debut in 2009. Shannon Gabriel (37 Tests) and Jason Holder (34) are the two other senior quicks, with Keemo Paul having played just the one Test so far and Sherman Lewis – who replaced the injured Alzarri Joseph – yet to make his debut.

Everton have had their fair share of transfers falling flat, players expected to set the world alight at Goodison Park eventually exit Merseyside after a dire and often short-lived stay with the Toffees.

Recent examples that come to mind include players such as James Rodriguez, Davy Klaassen and Cenk Tosun all joining from lands afar to become – in theory – potential new star players for the Blues.

All three players in question would leave unfortunately after unspectacular stays, Klaassen barely leaving a footprint behind with zero goals from midfield after joining highly praised from Ajax in 2017.

Ademola Lookman would also be another notable name considered to have flopped in a Toffees shirt, joining from Charlton and tipped for greatness after exploding onto the scene as a homegrown talent with the Addicks.

Lookman would score 12 times in total for Charlton before making the switch to Everton, a move that didn't quite go to plan for the attacker at all.

How much Everton signed Lookman for

The Toffees would spend £11m on the Nigeria international to bring him to Goodison Park, Lookman stating that it "feels great" to be an Everton player upon his initial arrival to Merseyside to the Guardian after the deal was concluded.

It would prove to be a waste of money on Everton's end, with Lookman turning goal-shy for most of his time in a Toffees strip before being let go of permanently in 2019.

Lookman's numbers for Everton

The now 26-year-old would only amass a paltry four goals from 48 games as an Everton player, the former number 31 did however get off to the best possible start with the Blues by scoring on his debut versus Manchester City.

It was downhill however from then on in for the former Charlton attacker in his new surroundings, never scoring again in top-flight action for Everton past this debut strike.

He would conjure up two assists for the club in his final Premier League campaign, before RB Leipzig swooped in to take the underperforming midfielder away from Merseyside on a loan deal which was then made permanent.

Marco Silva selling Lookman on for £22m in 2019 did manage to recuperate money back from the original ill-fated deal, with the one-time Toffees dud now excelling in Italy with Atalanta after moving on again from Leipzig.

Lookman's numbers since leaving Everton

The Blues would have been glad to see the back of Lookman after his exit to Germany, even more glad to have mustered up a sizeable fee for the Nigerian forward considering the attacker's lacklustre form in the Bundesliga immediately after leaving.

Lookman would only score five times from 24 appearances for The Red Bulls, an unsatisfactory return that saw the ex-Toffees man moved on to Leicester City.

Multiple moves would pass Lookman by before he joined Atalanta in Italy last summer, where he's managed to recapture his best form and get his faltering career back on track.

Indeed, Atalanta's number 11 is currently outperforming Everton duo James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucoure in Serie A, managing three goals and two assists from 11 matches played. Garner, by comparison, has two goals and one assist this term while Doucoure has three goals but only one assist.

In total, he's managed 28 goal contributions for the Black and Blues over two full seasons since waving his nightmarish spell at Everton goodbye.

The former Everton flop is a man reborn in Bergamo, a constant thorn in Inter Milan's side last time out in league action with Lookman assisting Gianluca Scamacca for the solitary Atalanta goal in a narrow 2-1 defeat.

The 26-year-old has recovered from his blip at Goodison Park tremendously, focused now on helping his exciting Atalanta team reach new heights in Serie A.

Taylor Swift could have some influence on Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid, with the France international closing in on a switch to Spain.

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• Pop superstar heading to Spanish capital
• French forward treading a similar path
• Lavish presentation ceremony is planned

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  As things stand, the World Cup winner is running down his contract at Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappe is due to hit free agency in the summer, at which point he is expected to embrace a new challenge with La Liga heavyweights.

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  THE GOSSIP

  With another ‘Galactico’ on the way, Real are understandably keen to put on a lavish presentation ceremony for Mbappe. That is where pop superstar Swift comes into the equation, with two dates on her Eras Tour set to take place at Santiago Bernabeu on May 29 and 30.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The infrastructure being put in place for those gigs could also be used to showcase Mbappe as a Real Madrid player. The 25-year-old has made it clear that he wants any outstanding issues regarding his future to have been ironed out by the time that Euro 2024 gets underway on June 14.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  According to , Real are ready to take advantage of Swift’s presence in the Spanish capital as a couple of iconic figures pass through their doors. Following that plan would work in the Blancos’ favour even if they, and/or PSG, reach the Champions League final – which will take place at Wembley on June 1.

The BCCI’s Committee of Administrators has split down the middle, and in public, over the handling of harassment allegations against the board’s chief executive Rahul Johri. The chairman, Vinod Rai, has announced a three-member independent committee to investigate the allegations, but his decision overrides the preference of Diana Edulji, the other CoA member, for Johri to resign or to have his contract terminated.These details were part of a remarkable press release issued by the BCCI late on Thursday night, which made public the deep divisions between the two CoA members. It announced the panel, to be chaired by Rakesh Sharma, a former judge of the Allahabad High Court, and also including PC Sharma, a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation – India’s premier investigating agency – and Barkha Singh, a former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, and said it would report its findings and recommendations within 15 days.Johri had been the subject of an anonymous complaint on Twitter on October 12 and has since gone on leave. He has also denied the allegations made against him, the release said. While looking into the allegations against Johri, the release added, the committee “may take into account and/or probe all allegations of sexual harassment against Mr. Johri while he was employed with the BCCI.”However, the release explained in detail the lead-up to the appointment of the committee. It said the CoA met on October 20 and 22 on the issue, when Rai favoured the setting up of an independent committee “in order to follow due process of law and principles of natural justice.”Edulji, the release said, felt that Johri should resign or have his contract terminated since he “has such grave sexual harassment allegations against him” and “it would not be in the interests of BCCI and Indian cricket that he represents BCCI.”Rai, the statement said, did not agree and felt that an independent inquiry was necessary as the tweet was anonymous. It also pertained to a period much before the CEO joined BCCI and it was necessary to provide natural justice to the CEO by following a due process of law. It said he “was very clear” that, in similar instances, the person against whom allegations had been made were permitted to represent their case before an independent committee which would then take a considered view after weighing all evidence.Edulji then said she felt that such an inquiry was not called for or appropriate and that there was sufficient ground for Johri’s removal. She then informed Rai that she would approach senior Supreme Court lawyer Gopal Subramanium “for further guidance if no action is taken and the CEO is allowed to continue”.The statement then said that, after taking legal advice and “soliciting view-points from other relevant quarters”, the proposed members of the independent committee were contacted for their consent.Johri has been on leave since the allegations surfaced, and he was stood down from attending last week’s ICC chief executives’ committee meeting in Singapore. Following the announcement by the BCCI of the external panel, Johri will be kept away from his job and his current workplace until the external committee conveys its decision to the CoA, and not until October 29 as earlier announced.

Glasgow Rangers manager Philippe Clement has enjoyed a solid start to life at Ibrox as they are just one game away from securing their first trophy in 18 months.

The League Cup final against Hearts at Hampden next month gives the Belgian the perfect chance to endear himself to the supporters even more.

The next few weeks could be crucial for the club and the 49-year-old will require all of his senior players to step up and make themselves counted, especially if they have any ambitions of success this term.

While the results on the pitch recently have improved, the January transfer window is fast approaching and the former Club Brugge boss will be keeping an eye on several targets.

Maybe not in the next window, but he will also be looking to land long-term replacements for players who are approaching the end of their careers, such as Connor Goldson, Borna Barisic and especially James Tavernier.

The captain recently turned 32 and while his attacking contributions are still at a wonderful level, he won't be like this forever and another top class right back should be the priority.

Michael Beale signed Dujon Sterling during the summer transfer window, and he was looked upon as a player who could have the long-term capability to succeed Tavernier on the right side of the defence, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way for the former Chelsea gem.

Dujon Sterling’s Rangers statistics

The 23-year-old came through the ranks at Chelsea, making two appearances for the senior side, before a succession of moves in the lower leagues.

His latest spell was with Stoke City, where he featured 28 times last season and, while not known for his attacking abilities, the defender looked like a reliable backup option to the Gers captain upon signing.

His progress at Rangers hasn’t quite gone to plan, however, as he has played only eight times so far this term, starting just twice and yet to feature for Clement in either the league or Europe.

In the Premiership, Sterling ranks in a lowly 17th spot for accurate passes per game (13.5) along with ranking 12th for tackles per game (one) and 25th for overall Sofascore rating (6.4), proving he hasn’t enjoyed the best of success on the field of play domestically.

It is still early in his Rangers career, though, and he can turn the corner if given the chance, but it doesn’t look like Clement has full trust in his ability.

The Light Blues will be hard-pressed to find a player who can contribute as effectively in the final third as Tavernier, as the Englishman already has 14 goal contributions – 11 goals and three assists – across 22 matches this term already.

James Tavernier’s season in numbers

The right back is outshining pretty much every single Gers player currently in the league as he currently ranks first in the squad for goals and assists (eight) while also topping the pile for big chances created (six) and key passes per game (three), clearly indicating that he is a key player for the club.

While Clement will still get another couple of years out of the captain, Tavernier will eventually need to be replaced and while Sterling was brought in as a backup option, it’s evident he isn’t up to the required ability to be a long-term heir.

Goals

6

Assists

2

Successful dribbles per game

1

Key passes per game

3

Big chances created

6

Stats via Sofascore

At one point, it looked as though former player Nathan Patterson was the ideal heir to his throne, yet the youngster was sold to Everton last January and the Gers are back to square one.

Could Clement turn to another young talent who has had experience in the first team and, with a little bit more confidence, could succeed Tavernier in the right back slot? As in Adam Devine, they have a talent who has been under used this season.

Adam Devine’s career statistics

The 20-year-old was given his senior debut by Giovanni van Bronckhorst towards the tail end of the 2021/22 campaign.

He came on as a sub against Dundee United, while starting against Hearts just a few days later as the manager was resting some first team players for the impending Europa League final in Seville.

He impressed sufficiently during those ties, succeeding with 100% of his dribble attempts while being dribbled past just once per game and averaging 53 touches each match, showing that he was keen to impress and grasp the opportunities given with both hands.

It gave the defender a solid platform to work with as Beale had to call on him during the festive season last term due to injuries to Barisic and Ridvan Yilmaz.

Once hailed as “highly rated” by former Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall in 2021 after he joined the club on a short loan deal, Devine certainly displayed this talent when required for the Gers last season.

Across six Premiership matches, the Scot not only created two big chances and averaged one key pass per game, showcasing his attacking ability, but he also succeeded with 100% of his dribble attempts and was dribbled past only 0.2 times per game.

The defender even won 1.8 total duels per game – a success rate of 55% – and it was clear that he stepped up to the plate when it really mattered, as the club didn’t lose a single game where he was involved.

Although not quite at the same level to Tavernier at this current moment in time, given more chances in the first team, he could develop into a first class right back.

His versatility at being able to play on either side of the defence will also be a big advantage for him when trying to impress Clement, although he has yet to make an appearance under the Belgian yet.

His time will come, however, and in the long term, he could certainly be a better option than Sterling in order to replace Tavernier on the right side of the defence.

The captain still has plenty to offer, but it won't be long before his excellent spell at Rangers has to come to an end.

Back in December 2022, Emiliano Martinez became a hero in Argentina, winning the World Cup after saving two penalties in the shootout, following a six-goal thriller in the final in Qatar.

In the meantime, the Argentine became the first player to ever win football's most prestigious honour while playing for Aston Villa and even picked up the Yashin Trophy during the recent Ballon d'Or ceremony for his troubles.

The former Oxford United loanee has had a late, but rapid rise to prominence and has become one of the best goalkeepers in the world and certainly in the Premier League, proving to be a key player for Villa under Unai Emery since the coach's arrival in the Midlands.

However, there is one former Aston Villa shot-stopper who is currently outperforming the World Cup winner in England's top flight this season.

Sam Johnstone at Aston Villa

Pierluigi Gollini joined recently relegated Aston Villa in the summer of 2016 but quickly fell out of favour within months of being at the club under Steve Bruce. The following January, the Villans acquired the loan services of Manchester United academy product Sam Johnstone.

In the latter half of the 2016/17 campaign, Johnstone kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the Championship as Villa finished in a lowly 13th place.

The keeper had left such a lasting impression at Villa Park that manager Bruce secured his services for another season as the former champions of Europe finished the campaign in a much-improved fourth place, missing out on promotion after a playoff final defeat against Fulham.

During his time at Villa, Bruce called Johnstone a "diamond" for his impressive displays, but the goalkeeper ended up making a permanent switch to bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion for £6.5m after returning to Old Trafford from his loan spell.

Following a four-year term with the Baggies, Johnstone joined Crystal Palace in 2022 and became the club's number '1' between the sticks in the aftermath of Vicente Guaita's departure in the summer.

Sam Johnstone stats this season

The 30-year-old has started all 13 games in the Premier League for Crystal Palace this season. The only game Johnstone didn't start in all competitions was away at his boyhood club Man United in the EFL Cup, having come on early in the first half following an injury to another Old Trafford graduate, Dean Henderson.

The Palace keeper also became the first player in the Premier League this season to keep five clean sheets, including one away at the Theatre of Dreams. Johnstone's excellent form this term even earned him a new long-term deal with the London outfit, keeping him at the club until 2027.

At Selhurst Park, Johnstone has been impressing statistically when compared to all other goalkeepers from Europe's top-five leagues. He is currently sitting in the top 17% for clean sheets per 90 and has kept the ball out of his own net in 38.1% of his games over the last 365 days, according to FBref.

The England international is having a fine campaign so far and has even outperformed Aston Villa's star keeper in the Premier League in a number of key metrics for a goalkeeper.

Goals Against

1.33

1.45

Clean Sheet %

41.7%

18.2%

Saves

2.42

2.73

Save %

68.2%

63.6%

Errors

0

0.09

Crosses Stopped

1.25

1

Post Shot xG

1.05

1.37

Passes To Final 1/3

0.50

0.55

Stats via FBref

While Jordan Pickford has been England manager Gareth Southgate's first-choice between the posts, Johnstone's displays at Palace prove that he deserves consideration ahead of EURO 2024, particularly considering he has performed better this term than the current holder of the Yashin Trophy.

Dwayne Bravo opens up on the events that led to West Indies pulling out midway through their India tour in 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2018

Dwayne Bravo stretches out during warm-up•PTI

Looking back the events that transpired in India, would you do anything differently?The only thing I would do differently is tape everyone. Record everyone who was in there. I’m the only player that really paid for what happened in India. The only one who never get the opportunity to play one-day cricket again. I made a stand, as the captain, as the leader of the team, for the best interest of my players, and by extension the players who have come and played for West Indies cricket. At the end of the day, it wasn’t fair on our bosses to send us on tour and cut the guys’ contract by 75 percent. It was just really unfair.Was it unanimous?Collectively as a team, we decided what to do. I listened to every single player. Apart from one player, everyone signed on a piece of paper, that they were all in support of leaving the tour. But we did not just decide to walk away from the tour. There were different times when we tried to reach out to both our WIPA president [Wavell Hinds] and the cricket president [Dave Cameron, Cricket West Indies president]. So we threatened [to pull out] from the first game, but we played. We threatened for the second game, but we played. The [fourth] game we went out (the whole team accompanied Bravo to the toss), so it was just a message and a signal, trying to let them know that we are not happy with whatever is going on.I remember fully well before we said we weren’t going to play the first game, 3 am in the morning, I get a message from the BCCI boss, the old one, Mr [N] Srinivasan, that “please take the field.” I listened to him – and woke up at 6 am to tell the team that we have to play. And everyone was against playing. Everyone thought that I panicked and chickened out and all these things.But I was more concerned about the players’ future more than anything else, because it was a serious decision to not play and walk away from the tour. All of us could have been banned for life. So by taking the opportunity and listening to the bosses of BCCI, that was one way to ensure that we are protected.After that first game what happened?We played the first game, we beat India, then we traveled to Delhi. At that time the president [Cameron] was in Dubai, which is few hours away from Delhi. He said he is still not going to come and meet us.BCCI

Where was WIPA president [Hinds] all this time?In Jamaica. They [Hinds and Cameron] were scheduled to come, I think, two weeks after the ODI series, by when most of us would have left. Only the Test team would be there. We play the second game, we lose, then the third game rained out, so we stayed in Delhi for an extra week. Again the president [Cameron] refused to come. Then we went to Dharamsala, up in the hills, that’s where we play the last game.Did anyone from BCCI still try to influence you all to continue to play?After we played three of the games, we decided we’re going to see how far we reach. Hopefully someone from the West Indies board come and assist us. I remember talking to Mr Lloyd (Clive Lloyd, chairman of selectors at the time), pleading to him basically that he can actually make a difference in this situation because at the end of the day he’s Clive Lloyd. “If you pick up the phone, call the president [Cameron] and said sort this out, he (the president) has to listen.” It’s Clive Lloyd, one of the biggest names in world cricket. I guess that call was never made and at the end of the day Dwayne Bravo and to a lesser extent [Kieron] Pollard – who got a bit of the blame – but it was all on my shoulders.For people to really understand that one of the reasons we even had that fallout between players and the board as far as the contracts is concerned, in January of 2014 we had a WIPA general meeting. The WIPA president Mr Hinds said that we have a proposal – we want to implement a professional league system and in order for that to take place, they asked the West Indies men’s senior team to take a salary cut. So, the senior players who were in the meeting – myself, [Ramnaresh] Sarwan, [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul – we all agree. We said okay, yes we can take a salary cut, let’s discuss figures. The president [Hinds] said that there are no figures yet. They wanted to know whether or not the players would be willing to take a salary cut and when at the end of that meeting our answer was yes, we can take a salary cut, let us know the percentage.The next time we hear from WIPA, or see anything about our contract or new figures, was in October, when the team was already in India. When the team arrived in India – I was already there playing Champions League for Chennai Super Kings – couple of the players message me, “skipper, did you see the new contract?” I said, no. When you look at it, you see, straight across the board, the players’ salary was cut by 75 percent. That’s where it really, really happened, where everything break down. I straightaway get on to Wavell Hinds. He says, “Bravo, tell the players do not sign the contract, it’s not still cast in stone, do not sign the contract.”Wavell Hinds told you not to sign the contracts?Yes, which I relayed that to the players. After, before we play our first game (first ODI), that we had a Skype call with Wavell Hinds.You should’ve recorded that?As I said that is the only regret I have, that I did not record these things. We said to him “who gave you the rights to negotiate our new contracts without discussing it with any player?” He said he talk to some players. We said, “who you talk to?” He said he talk to Denesh Ramdin and Darren Bravo. Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin both stand up and say, “Wavell, that’s a lie. That never took place.” Wavell Hinds had nothing to say.Then, his next excuse was he sent the information to Samuel Badree months ago and it was Samuel Badree’s responsibility to relay the message to the players. Samuel Badree said to him, in his face, “Wavell Hinds I am a cricketer. It is your job [and] that’s why we elect you as president.” You can’t send a player who is on tour, playing cricket, a 90-page contract, saying to go through it [and] relay the message to the players. That’s where it all break down, where it all went wrong.After that tour the BCCI said it was owed by the CWI about USD 40-plus million because the players left the tour?It was a big damage. Obviously a hefty bill. To me my concern was players and our contracts.Do you think the BCCI was on the side of the Windies players? Or they understood the players?Yeah, they understood, of course. Because they were very supportive of all of us. Actually they even offered to pay us whatever we were losing. We was like, “we don’t want you to pay us. We need our board to sort out our contracts.” The BCCI was very, very supportive and that is one of the reasons why most of us were still able to continue playing without any serious, serious problems taking place.