Richardson, who now represents the 21 players contracted to the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA), yesterday said: ``In this increasingly professional age, players' associations and players' committees are becoming essential in all test-playing countries. Maybe the time has even come for an international players association, under the auspices of the ICC, to be set up to ensure some kind of international standard. I don't think we can go as far as to have standardised contracts for tours, but guidelines and basic necessities ought to be established.''

INJURED ADAMS SENT HOME: Meanwhile, the West Indies today opened their problem-plagued tour against a provincial eleven without star batsman Jimmy Adams, who was being sent home because of a cut finger.

Adamscut his right pinky with a bread knife during the flight over from London Monday night. Manager Clive Lloyd said a doctor predicted it would take six weeks to heal. A replacement may be called from the `A' team currently playing in Bangladesh, he added.

The match was delayed an hour while uniforms misplaced at the airport were recovered and brought out to Soweto Cricket Oval with pacemen Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, who came this morning.

LARA DELIGHTS: A thunderstorm washed out the game in the largest of the country's townships -- but not before Windies skipper Brian Lara had delighted the crowd of several thousand mainly black spectators with an aggressive 65 as West Indies made 258 for seven in 47 overs.

A band trumpeted a lively welcome to the visitors before the start of play at the Soweto Oval in the middle of the sprawling township where 22 years ago a school boycott sparked the massive black revolt against apartheid.Lara hit 10 fours in his 60-ball innings. Carl Hooper was the nextbest with an unbeaten 60 off 70 balls.

CALL FOR WICB CHIEF TO RESIGN: In Barbados, the two leading newspapers Tuesday reported calls for WICB president Pat Rousseau to resign. `Time for heads to roll,' The Advocate said in a commentary by former Barbadian batsman Tony King. `Resign Rousseau' headlined a Daily Nation story saying Rousseau has been accused of misrepresenting the position of other board members. It quotes past president of the board, Peter Short of Barbados, as saying, ``I think the honourable thing to do in this case is to tender his (Rousseau's) resignation ...''