Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago:

The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has reiterated its call for the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) four-day championship to be played over two rounds.

This follows the WICB's announcement of the schedule, which consists of one round.

In a release to the media yesterday, WIPA noted the first point of its recently-announced 15-point development plan for regional cricket.

It reads: "The West Indies' first-class season should be made up of two rounds of matches with a minimum of 12, four-day games per year played alongside the international series.

"One round is insufficient in this modern era of cricket. We have seen that in recent years," WIPA president and CEO, Dinanath Ramnarine, was quoted as saying in the release.

"There are complaints from all quarters about the players' playing too much limited-overs cricket and there is some validity to that. As such, we are adamant that the four-day tournament should be two rounds in order to better prepare the players for international (Test) cricket," Ramnarine added.

The release also highlighted calls by current Windies team manager and WICB director, Joel Garner, for greater emphasis on preparation before international tours, as well as a longer first-class season.

It said similar calls were made by the newly elected president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath, when he expressed his disappointment with the limited number of first-class matches carded for next season and suggested that the regional first-class season be lengthened to two rounds of matches.

Dispute resolution process

WIPA said while the memo-randum of understanding between the WICB and WIPA requires that the parties agree to the regional and international cricket annually, this decision was taken without such an agreement. However, Ramnarine indicated that he would bewilling to meet with the WICB to discuss the matter further, rather than activating the dispute-resolution process since it would be in the interest of all parties to have agreement on this matter.

"A 12-round regional four-day competition will not only allow for greater exposure for more regional players, but keep players who are close to West Indies team selection in active cricket of a higher standard and match-ready for a longer period," the WIPA release said.

"The 12-round regional four-day tournament will serve the additional purposes of aiding in the preparation of West Indies senior team players, those near selection and identifying potential players for the future. Furthermore, it would give those players who may suffer injury or miss matches early in the season an opportunity to address the selectors and not have to wait another year to do so.

"WIPA therefore calls on the WICB to meet as soon as possible to review the proposed schedule and agree on a final schedule in the best interest of the development."