BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

West Indies were almost disqualified from the ICC World Twenty20 Championship ahead of their semi-final clash with Sri Lanka, a West Indies Cricket Board director has revealed.

In a bombshell disclosure on Friday, Conde Riley said the players had not signed their ICC's squad terms contracts as required, a move that almost resulted in them being axed from the tournament just hours before the match at The Oval on June 19.

"When we went to England we were required to submit to the ICC what is called a squad terms contract, where each player who is going to take part signs," Riley told a media conference at Kensington Oval.

"The West Indies Cricket Board suffered the embarrassment not long ago in England when at the point where the West Indies team reached the semi-final of the Twenty20 tournament, on the ... morning before the match against Sri Lanka, Chris Tetley of the ICC informed the West Indies Cricket Board secretariat that our team would be disqualified for the non-signing of these contracts by the players."

He added: "This is the morning of a semi-final against Sri Lanka. On that morning, contact was made by Roland Holder (WICB's cricket operations officer) after Chris Tetley contacted him and he (Holder) contacted then manager Omar Khan, who at that point had to try and get these contracts signed to avoid our team being disqualified at the semi-final stage of the Twenty20 tournament.

"After much to and fro, and with the approval of [Dinanath] Ramnarine and the WIPA, the players signed the contract."

West Indies lost the semi-final by 57 runs after a paltry batting effort saw them dismissed for 101 in search of 159 for victory.

Riley contended it was a similar ICC squad terms contract that resulted in the non-selection of the top-tier West Indies players for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa later this month.

He was hitting back at criticism that the WICB had overlooked the first-choice players even after they had made themselves available, following an agreement last month to end the stand-off.

Formal transmission

"This is a similar contract that was sent to the WIPA to have these players who said they were available ... complete these contracts for formal transmission to the ICC," Riley explained.

"As I speak to you all now, not one single contract has been returned to the West Indies Cricket Board by the WIPA, which would then have made these players eligible.

"We took the decision that after not receiving the contracts from these players who said they were available that they had now made themselves ineligible. A deadline had to be met.

"Therefore, as [WICB] vice-president Dave Cameron said the other day, we then selected the team from those persons who had made themselves eligible by signing the contracts. I hope that puts that to rest."

CARICOM chairman, Guyana's Presi-dent Bharrat Jagdeo, this week blamed the WICB for the failed mediation talks, which were headed by eminent Caribbean diplomat Sir Shridath Ramphal.