Player awareness must be increased - Ramnarine

Dinanath Ramnarine, the executive president of the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA), has said that the WIPA is prepared to work with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to help educate players on anti-corruption and anti-doping codes.

Ramnarine added that the Federation of International Cricketers' Association had raised the issue with the ICC but that little had changed. "You may make a presentation to one group, but the team playing in the next series could be totally different," Ramnarine told the Caribbean Media Corporation. "In the West Indies, there is a need for all the players to understand these codes because no one ever knows when they will be selected."

In touch with Marlon Samuels, who was taped by the Nagpur police in conversation with an alleged Indian bookie, Ramnarine said that the WIPA would do whatever it could to support Samuels, a member of the association. "He [Samuels] has emphatically denied any wrongdoing of any sort and I have no reason to doubt him," Ramnarine told the Caribbean Media Corporation.

"We are still receiving information, and there is process for dealing with these matters. The ICC has a code relating to these things, and all we can do is make sure - whoever the player - is treated in a fair manner. Marlon says he will cooperate with the authorities fully to prove his innocence and this is all we can ask of him."

The Nagpur police revealed on February 8 that Samuels had passed on team information to Mukesh Kochar, an alleged bookie, ahead of the first ODI between India and West Indies in Nagpur on January 21. Members of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit are expected to arrive in Nagpur on February 12 for detailed discussions with the police and hotel staff regarding the case.

Meanwhile, the WICB also announced that it would fully support Samuels and would not impose any sanctions on him unless there was evidence that he was guilty.