The West Indies cricket officials and players were on a collision course over contracts, which were four months overdue. The Caribbean was starved of cash and was in no position to guarantee payments to players. Hence the delay! Now an invitation to play a triangular series in Zimbabwe along with India seems to have brought things back to normal.

When India was struggling to get Pakistan off it back over the shifting of match venues for the 2011 ICC World Cup, it found a willing ally in Zimbabwe, who voted with along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to keep things just the way the Board of Control for Cricket in Indian desired.

Now the BCCI is keen to pay back the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and has proposed a tour of African nation along with the West Indies for a triangular ODI series in end-August.

The proposal, with it high cash flow implications, was what forced the West Indies cricket officials and players to settle the row and ensure that the Caribbean islands get their fair share of the revenue.

 West Indies were told in no uncertain terms that the triangular would be a non-starter if the Caribbean side was not at full strength. In fact, so strong the response from the television rights holder for Zimbabwe that the invitation to the West Indies would be treated as withdrawn if the players’ strike continued and a second string outfit was on duty as was the case in the current series against Bangladesh.

The prosp