Speaking yesterday, he said that the issue of fees had been raised, but WIPA had indicated before the meeting on Wednesday that it had been resolved.

``The understanding now is that there is a request for an adjustment with those bands (of salaries for players) or that there is to be an addition to those bands, and that certainly constitutes a financial matter, at least in my judgement,'' he said.

The leader of the local association suggested that both parties table their respective decisions so that they can come to an agreement.

The BCA board met on Friday and sent a letter to the WICB president Pat Rousseau outlining a five-point plan, with the aim of ``assisting the West Indies Board and WIPA in resolving this matter ... and making sure that the tour goes ahead''.

``I sincerely hope that they (Brian Lara and Carl Hooper) will be playing cricket in South Africa and winning games for West Indies,'' said Marshall. ``I am looking forward to the Test series taking place and the West Indies doing well in the outcome.''

There was also a suggestion that the inability to honour the retainer contracts may have been a contributing factor as the West Indies board has suffered two years of losses.

``The West Indies board has always been willing to go ahead with retainer contracts. However, the president had intimated that the monies were not forthcoming from the regional governments,'' Marshall said.