Francis makes a very compelling case ...DON 1 ,SICCKO & KARL

[Jangle]

..... and my point is why is the camp mandatory? What is it's purpose when T&F is not a team sport. This is not just about Stephen Francis, the coach of over 70% of the athletes that make up the team, but what if Lance Bauman doesn't want his Jamaican athletes to break their training to attend the camp.....

[Jangle]

Karl you keep shifting and deflecting my question. What is the purpose of the camp and why does it have to MANDATORY????????

[Sickko]

70%???? you certain about that? the average team to the WC is 50 athletes...check your stats again....that is the type of hyperbole and exageration and ignorance I try to stay away from...

[Jangle]

ok, my stats may be incorrect but stick to my point. Why must the camp be MANDATORY?

[Don1]

fair enuff

[Sickko]

So the point really is the camps being mandatory? On eof the things we hear about is relay practices and with all of our top sprinters not being in one location all years round relay practices are very important...we have proof/facts that Francis could care less about relay medals as long as his athletes get their's but since we care about relay medals, camps must be important.

Not sure about WC but for Olympics, IOC mandates that all athletes must be under the control of their respective associations a certain time prior to the start of the Games.

[Peter R]

Sickko, you asked why Chris Gayle didn't sign the retainer contract with the Board. For the same reason that Francis has outlined why he does not put much faith in the national camp, the interest of individual athletes ... read that as money. And that in today's world is not a necessarily a bad thing.

I work for an organisation and while i am loyal to them, my attitude in terms of priorities are, #1 is self, #2 family, #3 the organisation. If I do not put self first I am NO GOOD to either #2 or #3. I believe that is the position that many athletes including CG have adopted. So, while the behaviour of a Francis might appear to be anti-team, with a bunch of hired guns or mercenaries, they will still be able to serve the organisation (Jamaica) by adopting a seemingly selfish stance. Just my opinion.

I don't mean to hijack or sidetrack from the T&F aspect of this post, but CG did not sign the contract because he can earn twice his ANNUAL retainer in ONE month in the Big Bash, and five times as much in six weeks in the IPL. Simple. Its all about maximising earnings and i cannot begrudge athletes, especially cricketers who are by no means big wage earners relative to other sports. The Board's challenge is to find ways of dealing with this new paradigm. BTW There is no way that he, Dwayne Bravo and Pollard should NOT be eligible to play T20 for the Windies.