Cricket: Lara dropped by Windies

LONDON - West Indies captain Brian Lara is one of seven senior players who will not be selected for the home series against South Africa and Pakistan because of a sponsorship dispute.

The dispute centres on a potential clash between the West Indies' main official sponsor Digicel and the seven players' personal deals with Cable & Wireless.

In a statement West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Teddy Griffith said Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul would not be selected until the WICB was satisfied that their personal contracts would not infringe on the team deal made with Digicel.

"The Board cannot allow the whole structure of West Indies cricket to be put in peril as a result of individual contracts which will profit a few players on the West Indies team as opposed to bringing benefit to the entire West Indies cricket family," Griffith said.

The WICB said they had written to the players last August asking to see their contracts with Cable & Wireless, minus the financial details, to ensure that their obligations would not cause any breach of the sponsorship with Digicel. The players declined to provide the contracts for inspection.

In a statement on Saturday Cable & Wireless described the board's decision as most regrettable and said they were appalled by "what appears to be a great injustice to cricket fans in the region and to the players who are affected... "

"We firmly believe there is nothing in the individual agreements of the players contracted to Cable & Wireless that would cause any any confilict with the obligations that these players would be required to fulfill under the terms of any contract entered into by the board," the statement said.

Digicel's five-year sponsorship deal, which is worth about $20 million and is the biggest in West Indies history, has already caused some commotion for the wrong reasons.

The mobile telecommunications operator sent Richard Nowell as its sponsorship manager with the team on January's tour of Australia and his scathing observations were leaked to the media.

Nowell criticised the players for not co-operating with the team's paymaster and for being poor ambassadors.

A web of alliances to different sponsors, the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association had split the team into factions, he said, adding that some players were more motivated by enjoyment off the pitch than hard work on it.

The series against South Africa starts on March 31, with Pakistan due to arrive in May.

- REUTERS