At the end of the lengthy four-hour meeting among the West Indies players, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), there was a meeting among four men that lasted over an hour.
After years of acrimony, WICB president Dave Cameron, WIPA president Wavell Hinds and players Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard met, exchanged pleasantries, ideas and clarifications–all in a bid to take West Indies cricket forward.
With two more years left in the current Memorandum of Understanding/Collective Bargaining Agreement (MOU/CBA) between the WICB, WIPA and players, the WICB took a proactive move to host a players' symposium in Florida on Wednesday to address some of the pressing issues.
Among the concerns discussed openly were MOU/CBA, future tours, ICC events, finances of WICB and world cricket, as well as life during and after cricket. During the symposium many of the players were able to get certain issues off their chest.
It is understood that Pollard and Bravo were very vocal and Bravo asked openly if Pollard and himself were victimised after the "Indian tour walkout". An insider told Guardian Media that Bravo was told "No", by the WICB and given an explanation as to why he and Pollard were out of the team for a while. The details were not revealed.
All the players who are taking part in the two T20 matches against India here in Broward on the weekend attended the symposium, as well as former West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
Cameron said: "The ongoing dialogue aimed at finding amicable solutions is the main aim for us as an organisation and we are keen on confronting the issues facing us as we seek to enhance the overall cricket product. We will continue the dialogue. We will encourage players to voice their concerns through an appropriate medium. We will work together for a solution.
"We know the players are the most important features of our Brand and we wish to engage them as is necessary and required to be more competitive on and off the field."
The meeting, which at certain points became heated was described as "Solution-oriented and the WICB continues to make efforts to facilitate the best environment for players," by Cameron.
One of the major points of discussion was the "free agency" status that many of the senior players who did not sign retainers fall under at the moment.
The players were briefed on eligibility for selection for all formats of the game and how they could qualify highlighting percentages or number of regional matches to participate in.