PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

No end seems on the horizon for the contract dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players' Association.

The two sides met in Trinidad yesterday for all of 23 minutes before the meeting ended with both sides in frustration.

"The WICB impressed upon WIPA that it was not prepared, consistent with good industrial relations practices, to negotiate under duress, and insisted that before any good-faith negotiations commenced, the players' boycott would first have to end," said president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Julian Hunte, in a news release.

According to the news release, WIPA refused, and the meeting, which had begun at 9:37 a.m., concluded at 10 a.m.

no agreement

But the 13 players who withdrew after they were named on Monday for the opening Test of the Bangladesh series remained in limbo, since the regional governing body now plans to pay them what they owe, despite no agreement being in place.

"As an act of good faith, the WICB has determined that, in the best interest of West Indies cricket, it will pay to its former players the sums it offered to pay during previous negotiations with WIPA," added Hunte.

Representing the WICB were vice-president Dave Cameron, as well as industrial relations consultants Gerard Pinard and Derek Ali, while WIPA was represented by executive president Dinanath Ramnarine and consultant Ousman Ali.