ST JOHN’S (Antigua), March 16: West Indies will name their Test squad on Thursday to take on South Africa even if Brian Lara is not available.Until lawyers clear contracts signed by seven players with Cable & Wireless, none of the group will be picked.“The team announcement will still go ahead, no problem,” said cricket board spokesman Leonard Robertson. “If the matter is settled before then, fine.” Robertson would not be drawn on whether late changes could be made for the first Test, which begins on March 31. ara, vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Ravi Rampaul are all waiting on the lawyers’ investigation.They have already been left out of a 22-man training group, which is preparing for South Africa’s arrival in the Caribbean on March 25.
Cable & Wireless, until last year the team sponsor, signed players to individual contracts before the West Indies Cricket Board finalised a new deal with rival telecoms company Digicel.
WICB has made clear it will not pick any of the seven until they know those individual deals will not impact the agreement with Digicel.
“The issue of seven players is in the hands of lawyers and until they have finished scrutinising them there will be no change,” Robertson added.
On Monday, Digicel rejected a six-point proposal from Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell which suggested team and personal sponsorships could coexist.
Mitchell’s plan was based on a number of concessions, and Digicel was unconvinced its US$11 million investment would be protected.—Agencies
