by EZRA STUART

THE WAR OF WORDS between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and fast-bowling legend Michael Holding was fought out on a new battlefield over the weekend.

This time, WICB president Ken Gordon was on the firing range as he dispatched a number of bouncers hurled at him by Holding to the boundary, noting the Jamaican paceman "has decended to personal abuse and defamation".

Gordon called a Press conference on Saturday and while hinting that he would like to see a white flag, was still in no mood to surrender and submit to the verbal body blows from Holding.

Instead, Gordon took a very aggressive stance and attacked every delivery which Holding had bowled at him in two vicious "spells" in which he (Holding) also countered comments made by his former captain Clive Lloyd, the present chairman of the WICB's Cricket Committee.

Gordon made it clear that when he accepted the responsibility of the WICB presidency, he was fully aware that he "would be exposed to public criticism".

"This has indeed occurred and I expect that this will continue to be the case given the deep emotion which surrounds West Indian cricket," Gordon said.

He admitted that in the current circumstances, there has been disappointment over the cancellation of the winner-take-all $5 million Stanford 20-20 Super Series match against South Africa noting this, among other things, had led to the resignation of Holding from the WICB's Cricket Committees.

"Mr Holding has advanced his reasons for doing so and while I do not understand them, it is his right to offer his services or to withdraw them and this must be respected. It is unfortunate that in doing so he has descended to personal abuse and defamation," he said.

Gordon noted that by itself would not have led him to convene a Press conference but he did so because a pattern appeared to be continuing and he had done it with regret.

"There has been too much acrimony and confusion in West Indies cricket. We must reject that legacy. This is a time when more than ever we should be taking some little encouragement from recent positive developments.

"We need to build on whatever good is taking place if we are to climb out of the hole in which West Indies cricket finds itself. Good progress has been made and we are about to launch appeals for the support of corporate Caribbean. Our team is competing in the current series against two of the best teams in the world.

"We have entered into a new dispensation in our relationship with the representatives of our players' association. These developments are not assisted by continuing to shoot ourselves in the foot," Gordon said.

The WICB supremo then gave the background to what he understood as the major allegation that the WICB did not seriously attempt to facilitate the Stanford 20-20 Super Series, and in particular did not earnestly try to have Pakistan alter the dates of the Pakistan versus West Indies series.