West Indies' tour to South Africa is in jeopardy thanks to the ongoing pay dispute between the WICB and the players.
West Indies legend Brian Lara has revealed that there was no letter from former South African president, the late Nelson Mandela, to protect the national team's tour to South Africa later in 2014.
The West Indies are scheduled to play three Tests, three T20 Internationals and five ODIs, on their tour of South Africa, just two weeks before the 2015 ICC World Cup.
However, doubts remain whether the tour would go ahead as planned, since the West Indies players are currently embroiled in a dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over compensation issues, Sport24 reported.
The dispute caused the players to pull out of the fifth and final ODI against India, earlier in October, which saw the rest of the series being cancelled.
Lara admitted that the administration of West Indies cricket is at an all-time low. He added that he doesn't know the finer details, but said that he knows it's a matter of principle for the players, since they are standing by their right to receive compensation.
He said that the West Indian cricket bosses would have to take a long hard look at themselves.
Lara also revealed how the Windies' tour to South Africa in 1998/99, was also almost called off, but it was a letter from Mandela that saved the tour. The then South Africa cricket boss, Ali Bacher, flew to London to hold discussions with the Windies.
He said that his trump card was a letter from president Mandela, as he also requested the West Indies to go ahead with the tour. He agreed that he couldn't refuse when Bacher gave him that letter and they then decided to go ahead with the tour.
The 45-year-old Lara scored 11,953 Test runs at an average of 52.88. He also holds the record for the highest score ever in Test cricket, when he scored 400 not out, against England at Antigua in 2004, the report added.
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